


Stars Above You

by scarletjoysword



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Catholic School, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-21 11:50:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3691185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletjoysword/pseuds/scarletjoysword
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All-Girls Catholic School AU</p>
<p>Laura Hollis is starting her junior year at St. Janarius Academy for Girls when she meets the new transfer student, Carmilla.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Patron Saint of Blood Diseases

A screeching alarm clock was the first noise Laura Hollis heard on September 1st. Why the first day of school had to be on a Monday, Laura didn’t know. She punched the snooze button on the clock and rolled onto her back. She stared at the ceiling.

“Here we go again.”

She threw her legs over her bed and attempted to stand up. She failed, and fell back onto her bed.

_Okay, waking up at six a.m. is much more difficult than I remember._

She stood up again and, this time, managed to maintain her composure. She dragged herself to her closet and threw on the uniform she hadn’t worn for three months.

She looked in the mirror. _Plaid skirt, button down, blazer, tie, knee socks, done._

She walked out of her room and looked into the kitchen, where her dad was sipping a cup of coffee, perusing a newspaper. He was in his uniform as well, but a janitor jumpsuit instead. She walked past him and started to put on her shoes at the door.

“Ready?” Laura said, grabbing the door knob. 

Mr. Hollis put the cup of coffee down and folded the newspaper. “Yup. Let me just... ” Mr. Hollis patted the many pockets of his suit, and pulled a ring of keys out of one. “Alright, let’s go.”

Laura opened the door. “Wait!” Mr. Hollis yelled. “What did you eat for breakfast?” 

Laura reached into the pocket of her uniform’s blazer. She pulled out a granola bar. Mr. Hollis nodded and followed her out of the house. 

\-----

“You’re awfully quiet.”

They had been driving for ten minutes at this point, and Laura had not said a word. 

“What?” Laura asked out distractedly.

“What’s eating you, L?”

“Just first-day-of-school blues.” _No, it’s not_. She looked back out the window.

Mr. Hollis sighed. “Laura, I know you don’t want to go back. And I know you’ve had a difficult time these past two years. I understand that.” Do you? “But I can’t pull you out. I refuse to send you to that shitty public school.”

“You mean the one where you work?” Laura laughed a little.

“Yes, where I clean up the vomit and spilled milk of teenagers every day. _I would know how shitty it is_.” Mr. Hollis was approaching her school. “Do you want me to drop you off around the corner?” Laura nodded.

“Laura, I dropped out of high school. That’s why I’m sitting in a jumpsuit that says ‘Silas Public High School.’ At Janarius I know you’re receiving an education. I know you’ll do great things with your life.”

Laura sighed and turned to face her Dad. “I know. It’s just hard having to go back. Feel like I’m walking into my own funeral.” Laura laughed at her own statement. Her father did not.

“Just promise me you’ll make the best out of it?”

She forced a smiled. “I always do.” Laura gave her father a kiss on the cheek and stepped out of the car.

\-----

St. Janarius Academy for Girls sits atop a lonely hill, hidden behind oak trees and bushes acting as boundary lines for the students that attend the institution. From a distance, the front of the school looked more like the opening of a wooded forest, but behind the bushes was a flat grass lawn that stretched as far as a football field. At the end of the lawn, you can see a wide building built in the collegiate gothic style. This was the main building. Further back, hidden and completely off-limits to every student, was the old building. The standing death trap broke building code in the mid-1920s, and instead of improving upon it, the school decided to pool funds and donations to construct a new building altogether. Even with the old building looming in the back, the campus was beautiful. 

At first glance, you would think the school to be as prestigious as Cambridge or Harvard; it sure looked it. The luxurious campus, though displaced and out of the way, did not reveal the school’s struggle to attract new students with every passing year. This year’s enrollment was a measly 150 girls. Considering the building could hold up to 1500, the Board of Trustees was not very happy to hear the numbers at one of its bi-annual meetings.

Junior orientation was uneventful. Not _bad_ uneventful, just uneventful. Her class gathered on the main lawn, and they handed out schedules and announced homerooms. Laura stood in her designated group and watched as the other students names were called.

“Karnstein, Carmilla. 307.” No movement.

“ _Karnstein, Carmilla. Are you here?!_ ” The teacher spoke louder this time. A girl with black hair popped her head up from the crowd. The headphones in her ears gave some consolation as to why she didn’t hear her name the first time. Laura looked the girl up and down and realized just how different she looked from the rest of the student body. Most the girls of the were tanned with soft features. They didn’t necessarily look welcoming or even pleasant, but they looked more “teenager."

But Carmilla didn’t. Her black hair was the first major difference, but her face was just as alarming. Her features were sharp, and Laura was pretty sure her jawline could cut glass if tested. She looked like she was in her twenties, not sixteen.

_307\. My homeroom._

The girl sauntered over and looked straight at Laura. She smirked. 

“Hey.” She turned around before Laura could even respond, which was, in all honesty, quite abnormal and even a little rude.

Laura stared at the back of the girl’s head. _This girl is going to have more problems than one if she acts like this._

\-----

_Here comes the rain again_

_Raining in my head like a tragedy_

_Tearing me apart like a new emotion._

Carmilla Karnstein was the type of girl to put a song on repeat for hours. She would dissect every lyric, every syllable, every beat, every — wait, someone was calling her name. 

She took a headphone out.

“ _Karnstein, Carmilla. Are you here?!_ ”

Shit. Carmilla stood up as gracefully as she could and gathered. She could feel all eyes on her, and even heard a couple of sighs.

_Well, I guess the time has come to strut my stuff._

Carmilla took her time walking over to her newly assigned homeroom. Room 307. By the time the next name was announced, most of the eyes of the junior class were off Carmilla and on to the next victim.

_Most._

A girl who looked more like a 7th grader than an 11th grader was staring straight at her. Normally, Carmilla would have rolled her eyes and ignored her, but something about the softness in her eyes and how her lips were slightly parted proved that this girl was not making petty assumptions about Carmilla.

“Hey,” Carmilla said, half-smirking. The girl blushed, and looked down at her feet.

_Hm_ , Carmilla thought. _I guess not all of the girls at this school are straight._

\-----

The bell rang to signal the end of homeroom. The new girl, Carmilla, was assigned a seat two persons over from Laura. Not that Laura actively picked up on that information. After all, there was only like twenty people in her homeroom. She just happened to notice that Carmilla sat very close to her.

Laura didn’t know what to make of the new girl, but she was interested. Carmilla scowled through all of homeroom and, instead attempting to make conversation with anyone, she took out a novel and began to read. Her headphones were not in, but they might as well have been. Laura opened her mouth to at least try to start conversation, but she backed out last minute. But, could you really blame her? Carmilla was naturally intimidating. She was absolutely stunning on one hand, and on the other, she looked like she didn’t want anything to do with the girls at this school. Especially a girl like Laura. 

Except for when she said hi to Laura. Sure, it was abrupt and Laura was shocked, but her eyes were soft and focused only on Laura. Laura felt something. She felt something crippling, on not only her body but on her vocal cords. She was completely lost for words.

But that didn't detract that this Carmilla person was essentially angst in the form of a 16 year old girl.

But maybe Laura should grab this chance by the ankles and swing it around. She had a chance to have somebody. And that somebody was already interested in her. Romantically or platonically, Laura decided that maybe she should take advantage of this opportunity. ( _Not romantically. It's too early for that. Why did that word even come into my mind?_ ) Laura needed to grab this opportunity before it left. 

“Laura, Carmilla, can you two come here for a second?” their homeroom teacher, Mr. Christianson, asked.

Or maybe the opportunity would throw itself at her.

“Yes?” Laura asked, smile on her face. She like Mr. Christianson. He was her English teacher last year; her favorite teacher. He was one of the few reasons Laura was not completely appalled at the idea of her staying at Janarius.

Carmilla was less enthusiastic.

“Laura, I want you to show Carmilla here the ropes for the first few days of school. If I understand correctly, you both have every cla—“ 

“Mr. Christianson, that’s not really necessary,” Carmilla interrupted. Laura heard her voice more clearly this time. It was deep, and she drew out her words. Laura tried not to seem offended. “I can figure it out as I go.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “What’s the room number of your first class?”

Carmilla stammered. “Five-oh… six. Room five-oh-six.” 

Mr. Christianson scoffed. “One-oh-two, but nice try.” He turned back to Laura. “Just make sure she gets to every class on time, alright Laura?”

Laura looked from Mr. Christianson to Carmilla. “Yeah, you got it, Mr. Christianson.”

\-----

“Okay, we’re on the third floor right now, so…” Laura spoke, momentarily distracted by the corner she had to turn.

“I know what floor we’re on, cupcake.”

Laura looked back at Carmilla, caught off guard by the nickname. Carmilla smiled. Laura smiled back awkwardly. That awkward smile was why she loved to use it so much. Watching a girl get all flustered by a nickname was her favorite past time.

Laura’s mind was in a million different places at once. “Right, so we need to get down to the ground floor. Oh crap, we’re going to be late if we don’t hurry up.” 

Laura picked up her walking speed. Carmilla didn’t. “Carmilla, come on. I’ll be the one in trouble if we’re late.” 

Carmilla huffed, but picked up her speed nonetheless. 

“So where did you transfer from, Carmilla?” _She likes to say my name_ , Carmilla thought.

“Uh, I actually moved here from a few states away. My mom got a job offer with better perks, better money and she accepted. So, here we are today.”

“How are you liking it so far?”

Carmilla scoffed. “Well, I already made a complete fool of myself when I didn’t hear my name called. So, I’m off to a great start.”

Laura chuckled. “It wasn’t that bad. I don’t think anybody noticed.”

Carmilla smiled and remembered Laura’s face when they’d first seen each other. “You obviously did.”

“Yeah, well…” Laura was lost for words(again). They had finally reached Room 102. “Here we are!” Laura opened the door.

Carmilla looked at Laura through her bangs. “After you.”

\-----

Carmilla's black curls draped over her shoulder, covering one side of her face while she took notes. _Say something_ , Laura thought. _Anything_.

“Carmilla, hey Carmilla!” Laura whispered across the lab table as their Physics teacher read off the syllabus.

Carmilla felt her heart beat when Laura said her name. She brushed it off. She looked up at Laura. She noticed Laura was fidgeting with a pencil.

“What?” 

“I bought a book on gravity the other day,” Laura said with a straight face.

Carmilla furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the girl skeptically.

Laura’s neutral face turned into a smile. “I just can’t put it down!”

Carmilla closed her eyes and placed a hand against her forehead. “Oh my God.” 

Laura laughed silently, and continued to follow along as the teacher discussed mandatory class materials.

She could feel herself smiling at her syllabus. _Maybe this year isn’t going to be so bad after all._

\-----

Laura sped her way through the halls, Carmilla dragged her feet behind. When they reached their classrooms, Laura would choose a seat, and Carmilla would choose one relatively close to her. This was how the day went on for the most part. Laura didn't think Carmilla was _that_ irritated at the concept of having to follow Laura around. Laura was a quick thinker, and she definitely wasn't a dull conversationalist. But Carmilla did notice one thing.

Laura didn’t talk to anybody(except for Carmilla, of course). Sure, small-talk of “How was your summer?” and “Do you have an extra sheet of paper?” took place but that was it. Laura didn’t travel from class to class in a pack of other girls. Other than Carmilla trailing behind her, Laura was a lone wolf.

For someone as upbeat and optimistic as Laura, Carmilla expected her to be more popular. But maybe it was Laura’s sheer optimism that turned people off. Carmilla saw people sneering at Laura in the hallways. Laura didn’t notice. Or maybe she was ignoring them.  Carmilla did not know much about it, but she could tell people didn’t like Laura for some reason.

But Carmilla didn't care. She was curious in the girl. She observed the mannerisms that were so different from her own, the way she weaved in between groups of girls travelling the hallways, the way her hair reflected light, the way her entire face lit up when she smiled... 

There was no questioning it: the girl was cute. And the uniform definitely didn't help Carmilla's thoughts. The official rule was no shorter than the edge of your fingertips, but it seemed that rule was regularly ignored. Laura was no exception.

But Carmilla was getting bored. Class after class, teacher after teacher, skirt after skirt...(okay, maybe not the last one). Carmilla was in a new environment, and she was feeling risky. After the fourth hour of classes, Carmilla suggested they do something.

“We can’t cut.” Laura said, putting books away in her locker. Carmilla peeked in: color-coded notebooks and binders, every text book spine had a label, and it was all held together by a locker organizer. She was almost too clean-cut.

“It’s only a study. Does it really matter that much?” Carmilla whined with a little grin. 

“Yes! They take attendance and my job is to make sure you get to class on time!” Laura whisper-yelled. She craned her neck to peek down the hallway. It was quickly emptying. They had one minute until they would be late for class. “I mean, it’s your first day. You shouldn’t push it.”

Carmilla was disappointed. “Fine. Let’s go be boring then.” She folded her arms and started to walk away from Laura.

Laura slammed her locker shut.

“Carmilla!”

No response; Carmilla didn’t hear. She ran up ahead of Carmilla.

“CARMILLA!” She pushed her hand against the locker to prevent Carmilla from walking away.

Carmilla’s eyes shot open. Was Laura seriously about to hit her? “Cupcake, _what is your problem?!_ ”

Laura looked at her fist against the locker and _woah, did I really just do that?_ She took a deep breath and looked down at the floor. _Nice one, Laura, too coward to look a girl you almost hit in the eye._  

“Just…" she found whatever confidence inside of her and used it to look Carmilla in the eye, "don’t call me boring.”

“What?” 

“Just please don’t.” All the confidence was gone now. She was looking at her shoes again. 

Carmilla’s face softened. “Laura, I didn’t mean…”

Laura looked down the hallway again. Anything to avoid eye contact. “Whatever, let’s just go to class.”

“Laura, I’m—“

Laura turned around and walked away. She couldn’t tell if Carmilla was following her, and she wasn’t really sure if she cared.

\-----

Carmilla followed Laura into the classroom.

“Laura, wait.”

“It’s fine, Carmilla.”

They entered the room. There were about ten other girls in the room, but the room was silent. Frustrated, Carmilla settled into the seat next to Laura.

Carmilla folded her arms and slumped into her seat. _Well, what the fuck am I supposed to say now?_

_Should I say sorry? She won’t even let me start talking, though! And it’s too quiet in here, anyway. I don’t want everyone to hear. Maybe, I should wait until the next class. But that’s an entire hour from now. Or maybe I could write her a note…?_

Carmilla sat there for ten minutes, thinking of the routes she could go to address this problem. Problem? Was it even a problem? She’d met her a good four hours ago and had already managed to piss her off. She scoffed. _Could I be better at making friends? I think not._

She looked over to Laura and holy shit, did I make her cry? Laura had buried her face into her hands and her back was rising slowly with every uneven breath.

Panicked, Carmilla hastily ripped a piece of paper out of her notebook and scribbled a brief note. She pushed it on to Laura’s desk, stood up and walked out of the classroom.

\-----

_Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. This is why I don’t have any friends. I take everything personally. Now she probably hates me. Fantastic._

Laura brought her hands to her face and breathed in quietly. She inhaled(one, two, three); she exhaled(four, five, six).

She felt someone touch her shoulder and peeked through the spaces of her fingers. A small scrap of paper was resting on her previously-empty desk. Next to Laura, Carmilla’s desk was now vacant.

She unfolded the paper.

“ _Meet me in the bathroom. -C_ ”

Laura stood up and walked out of the room. 


	2. Flesh-Eating Termites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All-Girls Catholic School Alternate Universe (aka AGAU)
> 
> Laura Hollis is starting her junior year at St. Janarius Academy for Girls when she meets the new transfer student, Carmilla. Carmilla is the only person Laura has ever fallen for, and maybe that’s what scares her the most.

“You know,” Carmilla’s voice made Laura jump. Carmilla was leaning against the wall, picking at her fingernails. “It was only after I left the classroom that I realized I have no idea where the bathroom is.”

“Down the hall, third door on the right.” The hallway was empty, and the afternoon sun was bleeding through the stain glassed windows.

“It’s okay. I didn’t actually have to use the bathroom.” Carmilla swallowed her pride. _Be nice_.  “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for what I said earlier. It was inappropriate of me.”

Laura sighed. “No, no. I freaked out. I just met you, and I know you didn’t mean anything bad, I just get a little protective of myself and I don’t realize and…” Laura searched for the right words.

Carmilla picked up where she left off. “The first day of school is always the hardest.”

Laura smiled and threw her hands up in agreement. “Exactly.”

Silence.

Carmilla stuck out her hand. “Friends?”

“Friends.”

\-----

It was lunch now, and most of the students chose to eat outside on the lawn. It was Laura’s favorite part of the day. But the front lawn became uninteresting after a while. Technically, students weren’t allowed on the stretch of land behind the main building(mostly to avoid freshmen wandering into the old building), but the only thing that ever stood Laura’s way was a sign saying “OFF LIMITS.” One day, in the first semester of freshman year, Laura decided to take some liberties with the official school rules.

To get to her spot, she needed to sprint the fifty-or-so yards separating the back of the main building and the wooded patch of trees. A tree with a specific “Y” shape to its branches was the first sign she was heading in the right direction. Next, a fallen log with moss on its underside.

“How did you even find this place?” Carmilla asked, stepping over the log.

“I was an adventurous freshman.”

“Ah. The worst kind,” Carmilla teased. The reached the spot: a picnic table, easily thirty or forty years old, turning green and covered with dead leaves. Carmilla pushed the leaves of the table and hopped up on it. She put her hands behind her head and let her back fall so she was looking up at the sky. Her legs we're bent with the bottoms of her feet resting on the wooden table. “And you never told anyone about this?”

Laura laughed nervously and joined her on the table, but didn’t lie down(That would be inappropriate, right?). She noticed the bottom of Carmilla's blouse rise up. “No, I guess not.”

“Why?”  
  
Laura shrugged her shoulders. “Never had a reason to.”

Carmilla sat up and looked at Laura.

Laura inhaled. “You know, I’ve never skipped a class before.” Carmilla looked so soft.

Carmilla was surprised she brought up the subject again. “Never?”

Laura shook her head. “One time I was ten minutes late because I forgot my locker combination. But, no, I’ve never.”

Carmilla laughed because _of course she would equate forgetting her locker combination to cutting class_. “Well, the offer’s still there if you ever want to.” Carmilla squinted and pointed at something in the distance. “What’s that?”

“Oh, that’s the old building. It was where they had classes before the 1920s but it was shut down because the pipes were made of led or there were flesh-eating termites, I forget which.”  
  
“Have you ever gone in?”  
  
“Well, considering my flesh has yet to be eaten, that would be a no.”

“We should go inside one day.” Laura looked at the building closer. It was smaller, but much more ornate. It was gothic, with pointed arches and a front porch that wrapped around the entire building. It was more like a house than a school. The paint on the outside was peeling and almost every window was broken. Through the blank window frames you could see papers and broken furniture, but not much else.

A crack rang in Laura’s ear.

\-----

“ _Shit!_ ” Laura yelled. Carmilla felt the sudden pressure on her hand. Laura had grabbed her hand. Laura was ready to bolt from the scene, as was Carmilla. Laura was holding a fist up. They both shot their heads around and saw what Laura had been so deathly afraid of: a deer that had stepped on a twig.

Carmilla started laughing, quietly at first, and then louder and louder.

“Oh my God, that scared the hell out of me. Carmilla, it’s not funny!”

Carmilla was now in hysterics, gesturing to Laura’s fist. “You were completely ready to fight a deer!”   
  
Laura was still holding onto Carmilla’s hand. Carmilla’s laugh was contagious and just as Laura was starting to laugh, Carmilla tightened her grip on Laura’s hand.

“I thought it was a teacher!” Carmilla only laughed harder.

When their combined laughter began to fade, Laura looked at their hands and spoke up.

“I’m really glad I showed you this.”

Carmilla squeezed Laura’s hand and smiled. “I’m really glad you’re here with me. You know, in case Bambi decides to attack me.” Laura pushed into Carmilla with her shoulder.

A bell rang in the distance.

“That means lunch is over.”  
  
Carmilla jumped off the table and took Laura with her. “It’s a good thing really. They want to make sure the entire student body isn’t attacked by an army of deer.”

“ _Shut up._ ”

Carmilla bit her lip and suddenly their faces were very close. Laura smelt like strawberry shampoo and Carmilla began to count the freckles on her cheeks. “Make me.”

Laura felt the inside of her stomach tug. All she could hear was Carmilla’s breathing and the sounds of leaves rustling behind them. Carmilla’s thumb ran against the outside of Laura’s palm. Carmilla looked to where the leaves were swirling around each other.

“I guess autumn’s coming.”

The second bell rang.

Laura looked back at where the bell’s sound came from and back at Carmilla.

“We—we should go, probably…” Laura was frozen in place. She was looking at the ends of Carmilla’s bangs, and how certain strands were a little lighter.

Carmilla smiled and rolled her eyes. She tugged at Laura’s hand. “Come on, cupcake. Let’s get to class.”

\-----

“Okay, class, welcome to Advance Placement English Language and Composition, I’m Ms. Lawrence and I’ll be your teacher for this year.”

The door opened and in spilled Carmilla and Laura. They were a minute and a half late.

“And what were you girls doing that was so important, you missed your first English class of the year?” Carmilla noted the teachers almost ridiculous height. _We didn’t miss it_ , Carmilla thought, _we’re two minutes late, tops._  
  
Laura cheeks blushed. “I, uh… forgot my locker combination.”  
  
 _Oh no_ , Carmilla’s eyes widened. _Out of all the excuses, you had to give that one?_

“Is something funny,” she scanned the attendance list, “Ms. Karnstein?”

Laura elbowed Carmilla in the ribs. Carmilla bit her lip so hard it almost bled. “Not at all, miss.”

“Then please take your seats and stop holding up my class.”

_Someone’s a little dramatic._

They sat down next to each other, but were quickly interrupted by Ms. Lawrence. “Oh no. Ms. Karnstein, you can sit there. But Ms. Hollis, please bring your materials here. You’ll be sitting next to my desk.”

“ _Well, that’s unnecessary_ ,” Carmilla said under her breath. Or at least she thought.

“Ms. Karnstein, do you have something you’d like to share with the rest of the class.?”

“No, I don’t have any…” Carmilla looked the teacher up and down. “... _towering_ issues.” Carmilla saw Laura’s eyes widen from across the room. The rest of the class let out a stifled laugh.

Ms. Lawrence refused to look embarrassed. “Good. We will jump right into class. Let’s go around the room and say what our favorite books are.”

“Mine’s the one about the giantess with a bad attitude, but I forget the title,” Carmilla’s voice boomed. The class’s laughter was more defined this time. Even Laura laughed this time.

Ms. Lawrence took off her glasses. “Ms. Karnstein, I’d like to see you after class.” The class silenced. “You as well, Ms. Hollis.”

Laura was as pale as a sheet.

\-----

“I expect the first half of ‘The Great Gatsby’ to be read by Friday. We’ll be writing an in-class essay, so have at least three rhetorical strategies ready to write on.” The bell rang. “Class dismissed. See you tomorrow.”

Carmilla packed up her notebook and copy of “The Great Gatsby” and trudged to Ms. Lawrence’s desk. Laura was still packing up.

“Ah, Ms. Karnstein, I understand that you’re a transfer student, correct?” Carmilla nodded. “I’m sure you understand we expect our students to respect our teachers. I expect the very same from you.”

 _Gag. A teacher with control issues. What a cliché_.

“I expect better behavior from you tomorrow.”

“I will try my best, Ms. Lawrence.” Carmilla sounded only a little sarcastic.

\-----

Laura watched Carmilla’s reaction as they spoke in hushed voices. _Okay, Carmilla doesn’t look that upset, so it can’t be that bad_. Carmilla walked past Laura and squeezed her arm.

“Calm down, cupcake,” Carmilla whispered.

Laura smiled when Carmilla’s breath touched her ear, but eyes were watching her. She realized Ms. Lawrence was looking at the two and awkwardly shuffled away from Carmilla.

Laura pulled her books to her chest. “Hi, Ms. Lawrence, I just wanted to apologize for coming into class late and for being disruptive. I swear it won’t happen again.”

Ms. Lawrence was smiling. “Laura, you’re not in trouble.”

Laura relaxed. “Oh, okay. Is it about my summer assignment?”

She took her glasses off and leaned into the back of her chair. Sitting down she was much less intimidating. She was young, no older than 23 or 24. She wasn’t patronizing like some of her older teachers; she spoke like a friend. “No, I just wanted to tell you how excited I am to have you in my class this year. Your application was by far the most impressive.” Ms. Lawrence had a really nice smile.

Laura beamed. “Really? I’m glad, I put a lot of effort into it.”

Ms. Lawrence laughed at Laura’s smile. “Definitely. I just want to make sure you stay focused on your studies this year. Don’t want any unnecessary distractions.”

Laura suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She smiled through it.

“Yeah, I completely understand. Junior year is very important, I shouldn’t...waste it.” Laura began to turn her body. “I should probably go. Don’t wanna be late for my next class.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Laura.” Ms. Lawrence stood up and walked Laura out of the room. She looked at Carmilla, and then back at Laura. “Remember what I said about distractions.”

Laura nodded, and walked away.

Carmilla squinted as Ms. Lawrence walked back into her classroom. “It sounds like she has many things stuck up her ass.”

Laura laughed. “If I were you, I’d go easy on the tall jokes.”

“So I _shouldn’t_ call her a giraffe during tomorrow’s class?”

Laura scrunched her nose and shook her head. “No, I don’t think that's a good idea.”

Carmilla felt her stomach tighten. “Okay, where are we off to next?”

“Technically, we can leave now.”

“Technically?”

“Well, I normally have to wait until three for the school bus. But technically, I could just leave.”

Carmilla put her hands in her blazer pockets and rocked on her heels. _Be subtle about this, Karnstein_ , Carmilla thought. “If you want, I could drive you home.” She took the car keys out of her pocket.

“That would be frickin’ amazing! You have a car?”

Carmilla’s face lit up, and the pair started their mini-trek off the campus to Carmilla’s parking space. “Yeah, it was a sweet sixteen gift from my mother.”

Laura stood agape. “You had a sweet sixteen?”

“What’s wrong with having a sweet sixteen?”

“Nothing, you just don’t look like the type of girl to have a sweet sixteen.”

“Well, what type of girl do I look like?” Carmilla was smirking again.

_Do not fucking blush, Hollis. You are stronger than this girl’s flirting game._

Laura smirked right back at Carmilla. “You look like a massive nerd.”

“What?” Carmilla was surprised at the girl’s quick reply. “You’re completely wrong.”

Laura had definitely touched a nerve. “Oh, a bit defensive, are we?” Carmilla was beginning to turn red. “I bet you’ve read every book Tolkien has written. _And_ you’re favorite is ‘The Silmarillion.’”

Carmilla’s eyes widened. “You’re full of shit, Hollis.”

“ _And_ ,” Laura was really trying to hold her laughter in now, “I bet you know what Hogwarts house you’d be sorted in. Which house is it, Carmilla? Which house?”   
  
Laura kept repeating the question until Carmilla used her hand to cover the shorter girl’s mouth. Carmilla didn’t realize how warm her face would feel when she touched it. Laura suddenly forgot how to breathe.

“I’m--I’m a Slytherin. Are you gonna be quiet now, or am I going to have to walk you to the car like this?” Laura shook her head and Carmilla cautiously removed her hand.

She looked at Carmilla with a grin and opened her mouth.

“ _Watch out world!_ ” she shouted. “ _Carmilla Karnstein is a massive nerd!_ ”

" _Laura Hollis is afraid of deer!_ "

Laura gasped. "It was one time!"

\-----

“Wow,” was all Laura could say when she saw Carmilla’s car. She didn’t know car brands or models, but she could definitely recognize the name “Mercedes.”

Carmilla unlocked the car, and they both stepped in, Carmilla at the wheel, Laura in the passenger side. “From the magnitude of the gift, you would think I’d have some type of information that could absolutely destroy her.” A dark chuckle. “But, no. Just some pictures of her in a facial and a bathrobe.” She backed out of her parking space.

Laura laughed and began to rummage through her bag. She whipped out a piece of paper and began to read. Carmilla looked over her shoulder.

“What’s ‘Janarius Lock-In?’”

“Hm? Oh, every year at the beginning of term the school does this school-wide sleepover thing. They lock all the doors, so they call it ‘lock-in.’”

“That’s completely barbaric.”

“It’s kind-of fun? I don’t know, we do, like, group bonding.”

“ _Group bonding, huh?_ ” Her voice dripped with insinuation. “Didn’t peg the girls at this school to be into that stuff.” Laura’s cheeks turned pink. “At least, most of them.”

“Do you say anything outside of innuendos?”

Carmilla laughed. “It sounds terrible, regardless.”

“It’s really not that bad! They have pizza and ice cream, and the school’s creepy at night. It’s fun.”

“Didn’t frame you as the type of girl who enjoys the scary aspects of life.”

“Well, I guess we still have a lot to learn about each other.”

 _Lungs, Karnstein, you have lungs._ _Use them_. “I bet.” _Master of Charm, I am_. Carmilla cleared her throat. “Um, are you sure this is your block? There’s nothing here.”

“Uh, yeah,” Laura chuckled nervously. “My house is further in, but the blocks are really confusing and I don’t want you to get lost on your way out.”

“Are you sure? I have a GPS, I don’t want you to walk a mile when I could’ve just driven you.”

“Yeah, it’s fine! Just drop me off at the corner.”

Carmilla drove up to the corner and unlocked the door. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Right,” she reached for the door, but suddenly changed her mind and grabbed Carmilla’s hand.

She was looking for something in her pocket. She took it out. A pen. She turned Carmilla’s arm out, so the underside of her forearm was showing.

“My number.” Carmilla started breathing again. She uncapped the pen with her mouth and wrote the digits down. Carmilla felt herself staring at Laura. She needed to say something. Anything.

"Thanks."

_Nice._

Laura stepped out of the car and rose her eyebrows at Carmilla. She wanted more than "thanks."

"I—I'll text you later."

Laura nodded and put a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'll be waiting."

She shut the door.

\-----

Laura had an eleven block walk from there, which wasn’t that bad in retrospect. When she took the bus, her house was the second to last, so she wouldn’t get home until four o’clock at the earliest. And Laura didn’t mind the walk.

“Hey, little hottie, how’s it going? I haven’t seen you in forever.” Giant arms wrapped around her before she could get a look at the person’s face, but she could tell from his voice that it was Kirsch.

“Hey, Kirsch, how’s it going? How’s Silas High treating you? Senior year, right?”

Kirsch rubbed the back of his head. He was wearing a white tank top and new tattoo of Greek letters was on his bicep. “Yeah, about that, I kind of ditched today…”  
  
Laura looked at him with hard eyes. “On the first day of the semester.”

“Yeah, my mom needed some extra money and the job really does help out. I was thinking about doing that for a while.” Kirsch flipped burgers at the local McDonald’s.

Laura nodded. “I get it. But you have one year left until graduation! And you’re a great student!” Even Laura knew that statement was a bit hyperbolic.

“I know, I know. I might go tomorrow. We’ll see.” Kirsch sounded unsure.

“Kirsch, you want to come to my house for dinner tonight? I’m making spaghetti and meatballs.”

Kirsch’s face lit up. “Definitely! At the regular time?”

“Of course. See you at six!”

Kirsch waved and went off in his own direction. Laura sighed. Her words of encouragement were sub-par. _If I can’t convince him to go to school, maybe my dad can_ , Laura thought.

\-----

“Hey, I’m home!” Laura shouted out to no one when she walked in the front door. She took of her shoes and sat on the couch in the middle of her living room. She whipped out her phone.

No new notifications.

She realized she was being hasty. Carmilla probably wasn’t even home yet. Plus Carmilla didn’t even have a reason to text her, so it wouldn’t be a big deal if Carmilla didn’t text her tonight. She would see her tomorrow anyway.

Laura still double checked that her cell phone’s ringer was on. She put her cell phone away and pulled out her copy of Gatsby. She began to read.

Four o’clock passed. No notification. Then half-past four passed. Then five o’clock passed. No notification. At five-thirty, Laura put the water on to boil. Then she returned to her copy of Gatsby on the couch. At quarter to six, Mr. Hollis walked in.

“Hey, L.” He tore his mud-covered boots off and delicately placed them on the mat next to the door. “How you doin’, hun?” He kissed her on the forehead.

“I’m good. How was work?”

“It was great! I didn’t have to clean up any first-day of school pranks, so that was a bonus.”

“What?! At Silas High? I’m surprised, they usually go all out. I guess they need to pick up their game. Hey, hand me the strainer over there.”

He handed it to her. “Don’t jinx it. There’s a new principal this year, so maybe that has something to do with it.” Mr. Hollis eyed the two boxes of cooked spaghetti pouring into the strainer. “That’s a lot of spaghetti for two people. Did you invite an army over for dinner?”

“Just Kirsch. So yeah, basically.” One time Kirsch ate entire meat-lovers pizza. It wasn’t even on a dare. “I told him to drop by at six. I wanted you to talk to him.”

“What about?”

“I ran into him and it sounded like wanted to drop out of school to work. Support his family by flipping burgers, you know.”

Mr. Hollis nodded and walked out of the kitchen. When he returned, he was wearing a pair of jeans and a “Property of Silas High” t-shirt. A knock at the door sounded, and Mr. Hollis went to answer.

“Kirsch!” Laura overheard her father say. “How’ve you been? How’s senior year treating you?” _Classic dad, going straight for the jugular._

Kirsch paused. “Good, it’s been good!” The pair exchanged courtesies and sat down at the table. Laura brought out the food and watched the awkwardness unfold. Kirsch was wearing a different shirt from earlier, a long-sleeve that covered his new tattoo. Mr. Hollis was going along with Kirsch’s lie.

“How do you like your classes, Kirsch?” Mr. Hollis asked, serving himself a scoop of spaghetti.

“Actually, Mr. Hollis,” Kirsch coughed. “I didn’t go in today.”

“Oh?” was all Mr. Hollis said.

“Yeah, I got this new job and I’ve been wanting to help my mom out with some of the expenses and I figured even a little bit would help.”

“Did your mother ask you to do this?”

Kirsch twirled the spaghetti with his fork. “Not exactly, but I know she needs it.”

Mr. Hollis stuck the fork in his mouth. “ _But she didn’t ask you._ ” It was a statement, not a question.

“No, but—”

Mr. Hollis put his fork down. “Kirsch, I’m going to be honest with you, because I know you can handle it. As you know, I dropped out of high school. Never graduated, but I was lucky enough to get my GED a few years before Laura was born. But I’ll be honest, even that didn’t help much. Kirsch, you’re a man. In a few months, you’re gonna be a legal adult. Now, you can choose to flip burgers for your family, bring home some extra spending money for your little siblings and your mother, or you can focus on your studies and get a real job with a salary.” Kirsch was looking at his plate with intense eyes. He was embarrassed. “Kirsch, I know things are rough. We feel it everyday. There are times I’ve come home and the power's been turned off or I don’t have enough money for food. But you need to better yourself, get a stable job, move into a house, maybe get a wife and a couple of kids. I want that for you, Kirsch, and I’m sure you’re mother wants that for you, too.”

Kirsch nodded his head meekly. “I think I’m going to go in tomorrow. I’ve been wanting to see some of my bros, anyways.”

“There we go. That’s the spirit, Kirsch!”

Kirsch nodded and the three sat in an awkward silence.

_Dad, you could’ve at least waited until dessert._

“How is the family anyway, Kirsch?”

Kirsch got into how his little sister was starting middle school when a sudden beep came from the living room. At first, the three ignored the sound. Then Laura realized.

_Carmilla._

She nearly fell over herself trying to get to the living room. But when she stood up from her chair, her father prevented her from moving any further.

“I’m sure it can wait until after dinner.”

Another beep. _Oh my God._

“I don’t know, I think I should just…” Mr. Hollis gave Laura the _sit-down-right-now_ look, and she followed after a little internal debate.

Laura scarfed down the rest of her dinner and sat patiently ( _not really_ ) while Kirsch and her father finished.

Finally, they were walking Kirsch out the door. “Kirsch, I look forward to seeing you in school tomorrow.” _Dad, he gets it. Let him go home now._

Kirsch nodded and walked out the door. “See you then, Mr. Hollis. Bye Laura!” And off Kirsch walked into the night.

Laura literally pounced onto the couch and reached for her phone.

_**unknown number (6:23pm):** ok, now should your contact be ‘deerphobic’ or ‘probably forgot her combination’_

Laura smiled at the screen of her phone, saved the number and typed a response.

_**laura (6:42pm):** whatever happened to ‘cupcake?’ btw i just saved you as ‘mistress of the snark’_

“I’ve been talking to Kirsch all night. I didn’t even get to ask you how your day was.” Mr. Hollis said as he settled into his chair.

_**mistress of the snark (6:43):** ooo that’s clever_

_**mistress of the snark (6:43):** i might have to rethink these_

_**mistress of the snark (6:45):** but you can be my cupcake for right now._

Laura smiled and locked her phone.

“It was good.” And for once, she meant it.

\-----

As a family, the Karnsteins were well dressed, ambitious, cunning, and always followed the rules of etiquette. They looked out for eachother and anyone who wasn’t family was an outsider. Anyone who wasn’t family was an enemy.

_And Carmilla hated that._

The family of three sat around an oversized wooden dining table, eating something that somebody had been paid to make. Carmilla wasn’t hungry.

“Make any friends today?” Will asked, a nasally question that, at least to him, didn’t need an answer. Carmilla stared at her plate.

“You’re brother asked you a question, Carmilla,” a cold, sharp voice spat at Carmilla. Mother. Carmilla gripped her fork tighter.

She thought of Laura. Her smile when Carmilla told a joke. The way her hair bounced when she walked. How her eyes changed color when she went outside.

 _“Well, I guess we still have a lot to learn about each other.”_ How Laura looked at Carmilla when she said that.

She swallowed.

“No.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew whew whew what a fluffy chapter
> 
> wait until you guys see what happens during the lock-in
> 
> next update: wednesday (04.08.15)
> 
> my tumblr: hollsteinz.tumblr.com  
> tag: #AGAU


	3. A Joint Program

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All-Girls Catholic School Alternate Universe (aka AGAU)
> 
> Laura Hollis is starting her junior year at St. Janarius Academy for Girls when she meets the new transfer student, Carmilla. Carmilla is the only person Laura has ever fallen for, and maybe that’s what scares her the most.

Carmilla’s mother sighed and continued eating. “God forbid you are normal for once,” she muttered.

“How do you do it, Carmilla? We’ve lived in four different places and you’ve never once had a normal friend,” Will laughed.

“I’ve had friends,” Carmilla mumbled.

“Emphasis on _normal_ , Carmilla.”

_Control. Yourself._

Carmilla’s mother picked up where Will left off. “And this ridiculousness with being gay.”

Will laughed harshly for the second time.

Carmilla bit her tongue. “Do you just think gay people don’t exist?” It was a relatively bland question when put next to the other colorful words in phrases racing through Carmilla’s mind.

“No, but you are not one of them. You are a Karnstein.”

Carmilla laughed and stabbed her steak with a fork. “What a great thing to be.”

“It is.” Her mother sat tall, her back like someone had stuck a pole up her spinal column. She was never not wearing dark red lipstick, and her hair was always pulled in a tight bun. Even at home, she was in business mode. Never warm, never soft, never a mother. You could see where Carmilla got her sharp features, though. They both shared the same jawline and mouth, but she was more boney than Carmilla, more gaunt. Carmilla’s face was soft, where her mother’s face was cold.

“Are you sure there haven’t been any gay Karnsteins before me? Because, a couple years ago, Grandma told me a story from her teenage years and, boy, even _I_ haven’t done some of the things she talked about.”

Will’s face contorted into a look that could only be disgust. “You’re lying. Grandma would never.”

Will was fourteen, a freshman, an idiot. He was obnoxious often, but it was easy to see that it was only because he wanted attention. Ever since Carmilla came out, his mother started saying “good boy” less and “your sister will never be normal” more. On this particular night, he was wearing a light blue button down and a tie, a complete foil to Carmilla and the t-shirt and jeans she was wearing.

Carmilla smiled at her brother’s discomfort. “ _And she said she liked it_.”

“Carmilla, stop, that’s _disgusting_ ,” her mother interrupted. The word stung like salt in a wound. “Maybe if you actually put an effort into being a nice person, you wouldn’t have this problem of having zero friends.”

“Maybe if you coughed, the stick up your ass would fall out.”

Carmilla’s mother sighed. These conversations happened nightly. “Go to your room Carmilla. You cannot speak to people the way you do. You’ll never make any friends.”

Carmilla threw the napkin resting on her lap onto the table. “Could say the same for you, _mother dearest_.”

\-----

 _Don’t cry, her words mean nothing. Don’t cry,_ Carmilla thought as she walked up the stairs. _They’re just sounds. Sounds from a close-minded person._

Carmilla opened the door to her room, slammed it shut, and locked it. Mother had yet to find out Carmilla had invested in a doorknob with a lock. That’s going be a fun conversation.

Carmilla leaned against her door and took a shaky breath. _Pay attention to your breathing_ , Carmilla thought. _Will will never let you live it down if he hears you crying_. Her eyes began to water, so she shut them tight. _Ignore it._

The words replayed in her head. _Normal. Disgusting. You’ll never have any friends. Disgusting…_

It wasn’t that bad at first. Carmilla ignored her mother’s disappointment and her brother’s sneers, but she could only put up with that for so long. She could only create snarky comment after snarky comment to cope. And it worked for a while, at least when she only had to make it through that night’s dinner.

But life. Was she going to go through the rest of her life having to defend who she was? Was she going to have hide every girl she met from her family?

Was she ever going to be genuine?

The comments began to sting stronger and the words of her mother, the one who was supposed to love her and protect her, stuck like glue. Carmilla was a family disgrace.

She fell onto her queen sized bed and brought her hands to her forehead.

The few people she had talked to about it always said “you shouldn’t feel ashamed!” or “it’s apart of who you are!” but it still felt like she lying to her family and to herself. She cared about her family, but hated the way they treated her. Inconsistency after inconsistency.

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” Carmilla said to herself. She wiped her eyes on her forearm, and saw the numbers that were there, now slightly smudged from Carmilla wiping her face against it. Under the phone number, Laura had written her name, you know, in case Carmilla forgot. Carmilla smiled at the sentiment.

_Just do it._

Carmilla reached for her phone and typed in the number.

\-----

“For the first time, a special opportunity specifically for the students of the 11th grade AP English class is being offered,” Ms. Lawrence said as she handed out papers to each row of students. “Today and for the next few weeks, a few of you will meet with students from Silas High School after school, where you will discuss the major differences between public and private school. After you gather the information, you will write a persuasive research paper and qualify, defend, or challenge the following thesis: Private school offers a better learning environment for students, and ultimately leads to a more successful future for students. You will need a minimum of five sources, but if you choose to communicate with the students at Silas High, you only need two additional. The paper will be no shorter than…”

_Blah, blah, blah. Damn, Ms.Giraffe really knew how to drag out a description of a simple assignment._

Carmilla huffed and took out a pen and started drawing spirals in the margins of her notebook. Even though Ms. Giantess (*ahem*, _Lawrence_ ) had separated Laura and Carmilla ( _which was childish and, excuse me, Ms. Lawrence, but how well do you expect your students to perform if you don’t trust them at all?_ ), Carmilla still had an unobstructed view of Laura, even if it was from across the room.

Laura held onto each of Ms. Lawrence’s words, even the especially dull ones, as Carmilla liked to put it.

 _It's not jealousy_ , Carmilla thought. _I just don’t like being in the half of the classroom without Laura. I mean, Laura makes class bearable. I mean, it’s nice talking to someone who is understanding._

The bell rang and the class filtered out into the hallway.

“Laura,” Ms. Lawrence called. “I hope to see you after school.”

“You will!” Laura answered. “My dad works at Silas, so it’ll be exciting to meet some of the kids he deals with.”

“Oh? What does he teach?”

“Sorry?”

“Your father, what does he teach?”

“Oh,” _Too much information_. “He’s not exactly a teacher. He’s more into, uh,  _administration_. Office-stuff.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I’ll see you after school, Laura.”

_Does she normally say everyone’s name this often?_

Laura nodded and walked out.

“What did you do this time, cupcake?” Carmilla was standing outside the door, playing with her tie. Her hair was up in a messy bun today, and it made her cheeks and her nose and her mouth even more defined.

“It was nothing, Ms. Lawrence just wanted to make sure that I’m going to that joint program thing after school.”

“Are you?” The pair started walking down the hallway and out the door of the main building. It was sunny, the type of blinding light that you have to squint your eyes in order to see at all.

“Yeah. I have a friend who goes to Silas High, and if they’re anything like him, I’m sure it’ll be a good time.”

One of Carmilla’s eyebrows popped up as she snuck behind the “OFF LIMITS” sign. “Him?”

Laura nodded. “Kirsch. Just a friend.” She spit out a little too fast. “He’s more of a giant meat...puppy.”

Carmilla furrowed her eyebrows and laughed. “You have such a way with words.”

“Don’t you know?” She transitioned to a posh English accent. “We’re in the AP English class at the _prestigious_ St. Janarius Academy for Girls. We are the elite of the elite. _La crème de la crème_.”

Carmilla laughed softly at Laura’s sarcastic voice. Seizing the moment, the girl grabbed Laura’s hand and twirled her. “We are destined for nothing but greatness.” Carmilla let go. “And unemployment.”

“What a noble profession.”

The pair reached the beginning of the forest.

“Okay, I’ve taken you here three times so far. Now it’s your turn.” Laura threw her hands up to gesture the land before them. “Show me the way.”

Carmilla grew a sly smile and held her hand out to Laura, “May I?” Laura grabbed it.

After two minutes of walking in a circle around the same bunch of trees(“I think you’re lost.” “I think you should hush.”), Carmilla finally found the “Y” shaped tree that split into a path beneath it.

“Here!” She shouted. “Here’s the path, and there’s the table! You didn’t think I could find it but ha!” She reset her voice back to its normal low and sultry tone. “You didn’t think I could do it.”

Laura put her bag down on the forest floor and hopped up onto the table. She crossed her arms. “I never doubted you for a second,” she said facetiously.

Carmilla put her hands to her hips and did her best Laura impression. “‘ _Carmilla, you’re going the wrong way, Carmilla, that’s the wrong tree, Carmilla, don’t fall in the mud_.’ Am I close?”

“Nope. I don’t speak like that at all.”

“ _Oh, cupcake_ ,” Carmilla said with pity.

“I do not! My voice is not that nasally!”

“Whatever you say…”

Her voice totally did not sound like that! Sure, it was a bit squeaky, but not to that extreme. If Carmilla played dirty than Laura would too. Laura hopped off the table and her entire body relaxed into the semi-limp position Carmilla always seemed to be in.

“‘ _I just really love Camus_ ,’” Laura spoke, her voice almost as low as a man’s. “‘ _His words just really speak to me. I’m not obsessed, though. Not at all_.’”

“Oh, we’re going to talk about obsessions? You can quote every Game of Thrones episode.”

“I really need to show you that soon.” Laura went on tangents about her movies and television shows often. Carmilla sat down and leaned against one of the trees near the picnic table. “You should come over. We can binge watch every episode.” Laura jumped up on the table to reclaim her seat.

“Isn’t it like forty hours in total?”

“Well, there’s about 48 hours in a weekend. We need 40 hours to watch it, so that leaves 8 hours for snacks and bathroom breaks.”

“What about sleeping?”

Laura scoffed. “Sleeping is for the weak.”

“Creampuff, you do not want to see me on less than eight hours of sleep.”

“Good point. You can use the eight hours to sleep, I’ll use them to snack. Sound like a plan?”

Carmilla took out a notebook and started scribbling something. “I don’t know, my mom’s kind of a hardass about sleepovers.”

“That’s dumb. Why?”

Carmilla threw up her hands and rubbed them against the fabric of her skirt. She didn’t like talking about her mom.

“She’s just annoying and nosey like every other mom in the world.”

Laura nodded. “Right.” She kept bobbing her head and looking around. She was swinging her legs as well. She was absolutely adorable, but she obviously wanted to say something.

“What is it?” Carmilla asked as she let out a quiet chuckle.

“No, nothing. I just...it’s a really negative thing to bring up...but I just figured since we’re getting pretty close I should probably tell you, uh, my mom passed away a few years.”

Carmilla’s face softened out of shock. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

Laura threw her hands up. “No, no, it’s okay. I’m okay, I mean. It was a long time ago, and my dad’s really great. He’s, like, the best person I’ve known my entire life. But it’s okay.”

Carmilla picked at her fingernails. _Say something. Don’t make it awkward_. “Were you close?”

“Yeah,” Laura said with a reminiscent smile. “During the summer, she’d always drive me to this park. We’d get ice cream and while we were eating she’d let me sit in the driver’s seat and play with the wheel.” Laura looked up from her lap to see Carmilla’s smile. “She even let me honk the horn a couple times.”

Carmilla laughed to fill the silence, because she could totally picture a five year old Laura, face covered in ice cream, loudly honking the horn of a car. She pictured Laura laughing when a person walking by the car jumped. _Normal families_ , she thought, _that’s what normal families do_. And for a second she was jealous of Laura’s memory.

Carmilla packed her notebook away and stood up. “C’mon. I have an idea.”

Carmilla ducked under a tree branch and disappeared. Laura followed after her. “Where are you going?” The trees were packed tight together. Laura could barely see and had to keep pushing branches and leaves out of her way.

“You know, I’ve been at this school for four days,” Carmilla’s voice called back.

“And?” Laura shouted as she half-tripped over a tree root.

“I cannot believe I’ve waited this long to do this.”

“Do what? Carmilla,” she half-tripped again, “ _where are you_?”

“ _We’re sneaking into the old building_.”

Laura reached the end of the brush and stood in front of the rotting old building. Carmilla had dropped her bag at the foot of the the house and was standing on the wrap around porch. She was running her hand along the outside, looking for a weak spot or even a hole.

“You’ve actually gone insane.”

“Like you aren’t curious.” Carmilla rocked on her feet, producing a loud screech from the floor. Laura had a look of terror across her face, and Carmilla smirked. “Do I make you nervous, Sundance?”

“ _No_ ,” Laura said, fighting back the blood rushing to her cheeks. Carmilla was playing with the doorknob. “It’s locked, isn’t it?” Carmilla ignored her and took a bobby pin out of her hair to try to pick the lock.

Laura tapped her fingers against her thigh and looked around. It didn’t _seem_ like anyone was watching, so how bad could it be? The foundation looked sturdy, aside from the loud noises the aged wood produced. The building looked old, but it wasn’t falling apart. After watching Carmilla struggle with the door, Laura dropped her books on the ground. Laura stepped onto the porch and pushed Carmilla to the side. She was holding a rock in her hand.

“If you’re going to do it, do it right.” Laura gritted her teeth and hit the rock against the door knob, making it shatter.

“Getting some anger out, cupcake?”

Laura laughed spitefully. “I wasn’t the one trying to pick a lock that’s almost a century old.” Laura put her fingers in the doorknob space to get the extra debris out.

“Jeez, take her on a date first, Hollis.”

“ _Har, har, you’re so funny, Karnstein_.” Laura fished her fingers out and pushed the door open. “After you,” she nodded at Carmilla.

Carmilla peeked her head in. The floor was relatively clean, but papers were scattered everywhere. It was an open space, and took up almost half of the first floor. Close to the door, there was a desk. Well, it would’ve been a desk if two of the legs hadn’t been snapped in half. That was where the highest concentration of papers was. It looked like a hotel lobby almost. But it was dark. The room was surrounded by windows on all three sides, but they were boarded up with wooden planks. A couple of slivers of light snuck in, but if anything it added to the dead tone of the room. Darkness cloaked more than half the room.

And Carmilla didn’t feel like facing her biggest fear right at this moment. “You first.”

Laura’s mouth fell open. “You have _got_ to be kidding me.”

“You’re the one who broke the door knob.”

“ _You’re the one who wanted to do it in the first place!_ ”

“Whatever, cupcake,” Carmilla took a deep breath and waited for her confidence to build up. It’s just a room. A very dark room, but that doesn’t matter. It’s the middle of the day. She should probably walk in now. Whew, it was pretty hot. Carmilla adjusted her tie and took another deep breath.

“Ugh, _c’mon_.” Laura grabbed Carmilla’s hand and dragged her through the doorway. They both observed their surroundings. Laura looked at the papers surrounding her feet.

“When do you think the last time someone was in here?”

“Years ago, probably,” Carmilla kicked the papers around her feet and bent down. “This paper’s dated March 1962. Were they using the building that late?”

“Not that I know of. I always heard the building closed in the ‘20s.”

“Maybe people used it as a club house,” Carmilla picked up some more papers, revealing used cigarette butts. She picked one up and examined it. “Definitely a club house.” She flicked it back on the ground and wiped her hands on her thighs.

Laura was rummaging through the desk, thumbing through the different date books and agendas. “This is a student’s agenda from the the ‘80s. I guess a lot of people came here to hang out.”  

Laura and Carmilla wandered around the room for a minute, never getting too close to the blind spots of the room where it was completely dark. Carmilla rounded a corner and followed one of the slivers of light into a corner where three couches surrounded a coffee table. After she scattered the dust off the seat cushion, she cautiously lowered herself into the seat.

“Not that bad. It’s pretty sturdy.” She put her feet up on the coffee table.

Laura walked over to her. “I have an idea.” She got on her knees and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She turned the flashlight on. Suddenly, white light flooded the room, revealing new places that had been previously unseen.

“I like it in here,” Laura said, sitting in the seat next to Carmilla. “It’s calming.”

“Is that your way of saying you want to come back?”

Laura nodded.

\-----

“Hi, my name’s Natalie, and I’m a junior at Silas High,” a girl in jeans and a t-shirt. The students sat in a circle but remained in their respective groups. The uniformed girls from Janarius sat on one side, the non-uniformed boys and girls sat on the other.

“ _We’re all juniors_ ,” one of the girls from Janarius whispered to her friend. If Janarius girls were good at anything, it was maintaining a false-sense of superiority.

Natalie heard the girl’s comment and unconsciously turned her head toward the girl, a popular blond named Betty. Natalie smiled out of embarrassment and sat down.

Laura rolled her eyes at Betty. “ _Bitch_ ,” she said under her breath. Carmilla heard, but Laura changed her demeanor immediately and was standing up and introducing herself. She watched Betty’s reaction. There was none. And not “none” as in Betty was indifferent. Her face was forcibly blank. She couldn’t look at Laura, and was looking at a blank spot on the floor instead. It wasn’t one-sided either. Laura completely skipped over Betty when her gaze moved around the room.

Carmilla needed to remember to ask Laura about Betty later.

Carmilla stood up to introduce herself. “I’m Carmilla. I transferred to Janarius this year. I’ve attended private school my entire life.” She sat back down and crossed her legs.

A few other girls introduced themselves, and Ms. Lawrence followed them.

“Okay, so what going to happen is we’re going to get in groups of four, two from Janarius and two from Silas. Today’s topic will be stereotypes. What do you think are some stereotypes from private school and public schools respectively.”

“You want to pair up,” Laura asked Carmilla, to which she affirmed. “Okay now all we have to do is find some Silas kids. Oh! How about them?”

Laura pointed at two people and they were _fluorescent_. At least, their hair was. Both had bright orange hair that stood out from the sea of blonde and brown. Laura walked over to the pair bouncing with energy. Carmilla heard her say, “Would you two like to be our partners?” she pointed at Carmilla. Both nodded in agreement and Laura walked them over.

They moved the desks around to form a table of four.

“Right, so, my name is Laura and this is Carmilla. And you guys are?”

The one with shorter hair answered. “I’m LaFontaine and this is Perry.” The other girl had long curly red locks. Almost like Annie but a bit more motherly, Carmilla thought.

“Awesome!” Laura said, keeping the conversation going. “Let’s jump right into it then. Our topic is stereotypes. So we can do like a back and forth. I’ll say one, you can say one, and we’ll just keep going around in a circle. Who wants to start?”

Laura was speaking a mile a minute. Silence.

“I can start,” Lafontaine began. “I’d say the first stereotype that most people have of private school is that it’s snobby.”

Laura made a T chart in her notebook. She wrote down “snobby” and underlined it for effect.

“Can you elaborate?” Laura questioned.

“Right, so, because the school charges like $10,000 to attend, it means that most students come from a very privileged lifestyle.”

“Okay, that’s fair.” Laura continued. “I know a lot of students here do come from a lot of money. But there are also a lot of kids who are here on scholarship or have financial aid packages. I’m one of them.”

The long-haired one, Perry, continued. “But it still detracts from the environment as a whole. Silas High is much more diverse, financially, racially, and sexually than Janarius.”

“That’s true,” Carmilla spoke up, turning to Laura. “There are only about five people of color in our grade.”

“And essentially everyone’s straight, right?” Lafontaine offered.

“Well,” Laura laughed, “ _not everybody_.”

“Oh?” Lafontaine’s eyes blew wide. They smiled. “ _Oh._ Are you the only one?” Laura blushed and almost turned to Carmilla, but she realized that would be rude and presumptive. They never officially talked about their respective sexualities because, well, it had never come up. But it didn’t matter because Carmilla responded before Laura could open her mouth.

“I’m gay as well.”

Laura couldn’t help but smile. “Right,” was all she could say, a bit adoringly.

“Aw man, and here I am thinking every girl here is straight!” Lafontaine laughed. “I’m sorry I misjudged you two.”

“It’s no problem. I think you’d be surprised, actually. Not many people are out and proud, but I’ve heard a lot of what happens behind closed doors.” Lafontaine and Perry laughed.

“When were you gonna tell me this?” Carmilla was almost annoyed she hadn’t heard any of this information.

“All in due time.” Laura’s eyes widened as she remembered something. “Wait until you hear about the Midterms Bash of Sophomore year.”

“ _What?_ ” Why was Carmilla only hearing this now?

“Are you two dating?” Perry asked and womp, there it was. It was a completely innocent question, and there wasn’t a reason for Perry to have malevolent intentions, but Laura felt a need to put her shield up and defend herself.

“What? No, we’re just friends.”

“That’s what she thinks,” Carmilla said, winking at Laura.

“You guys are like an old married couple,” Lafontaine stated, ever so observant.

Laura laughed. “Let’s get back to work. It’s my turn, I guess. A stereotype that’s pretty prevalent is that public school is just easier. There’s less work and less studying and less tests."

Perry’s mouth dropped open. “Do people actually believe that?”

“I took two tests and a quiz today! And I have an essay do tomorrow morning!” Lafontaine continued.

“Okay, so that stereotype is completely unfounded, then?”

“Yes!” the two said in unison.

Carmilla laughed, “Are _you two_ dating?”

Lafontaine looked at Perry tenderly. “Yeah. Is it that easy to tell.”

“Yup,” Carmilla and Laura said in unison. They looked at each other and broke out into laughter.

“Okay, okay!” Laura said as she caught her breath. “Perry, your turn!”

She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Is it true that girls sleep with their teachers for good grades?”

Laura started laughing again and put her pen down. “Oh my God…”

\-----

The next day, sometime between Physics class and lunch, Carmilla lost track of Laura. It wasn’t an odd occurrence since they weren’t completely joined at the hip, but Carmilla was a little confused as to what she should do. She walked over to her locker and unlocked it. Just before she was about to shove a book in, Carmilla noticed a loose scrap of crumpled paper sitting inside of the locker. She grabbed it and smoothed it.

 

“ _Meet me in the club house. -L_ ”

 

Hastily, she shoved the rest of her books in the locker and dashed out the front entrance. She knew exactly where Laura wanted her to be.

\-----

Laura set her duffel bag down on the floor. She had five minutes at most to set up. She cleared the loose leaves of paper on the floor and did her best to wipe away the dust on the furniture. She arranged the couches so their seats we're all connected. She reached into the duffel bag and pulled out three white sheets. She laid them on top of the couches to cover the ripped fabric and leaking cotton like a bandaid. She reached into the bag again and pulled out three candles. She heard a creak on the porch.

Her heart sank. What if it’s not Carmilla? What if one of the teachers went looking for her? What if she gets expelled because of a stupid gesture for a girl she had a crush on?

 _Okay_ , she thought to herself. _I guess I’m calling it a crush now._

“Laura?” a voice called out, muffled by the walls of the building. Laura couldn’t tell who it was; it was too indistinct. She jumped out of her seat.

Laura rounded the corner and approached the door. Suddenly, the door flew open and light flooded the house. Laura covered her eyes with her forearm because of it.

“Cupcake, it’s probably not a good idea to close the door while you’re in here.” _Carmilla, thank God_. Laura let out a breath of relief. “I hope I didn’t scare you. What is it you wanted to show me, anyway?”

“Come,” Laura beckoned.

Laura walked past the wall and Carmilla followed with caution and a piqued eyebrow. When Carmilla rounded the corner and saw what Laura had made. The couches that were now covered with white sheets, the candles flickering light that spread to the entire room.

“I figured if we were going to make a club house we should go all out.”

Carmilla was amazed. “All we need are some pillows.”

Laura tsked. “You doubt me…” She pulled a yellow pillow out of the duffel and threw it at Carmilla. “I was watching you when when we first came. You like this place, but you hate the dark. So I thought I’d fix that for you.”

Laura sat down on one of the couches and patted the spot next to her, inviting Carmilla to sit.

“This is amazing.” Carmilla darted her head around the room with a smile on her face, and God, Laura had never seen anything nicer. She sat cross legged, her body facing Laura’s. Laura adjusted herself to mirror Carmilla.

A breeze ran through the house and Laura shivered. A concerned Carmilla turned to Laura.

“You cold?”

“Just a little.”

Carmilla reached up and grabbed Laura’s hand. She brought it to her mouth and blew into it. Carmilla’s warmth spread up Laura’s arm and she felt a type of wholeness in the middle of her chest. Her lungs felt raw and all she wanted was to be closer to Carmilla right this second. When Carmilla’s lungs had emptied, she touched her lips to the back of Laura’s palm and left a light kiss.

Laura let out a shaky breath. “You do that to every girl you meet?”

Carmilla smiled against Laura’s palm and lifted her head. “No. I don’t.”

Carmilla wasn’t wearing her blazer and Laura could see the goosebumps rising along her arm. Laura stared at them. “You’re cold too. Come here.” Laura took Carmilla’s hands and pulled her back so they were both lying on the couch, Carmilla basically on top of Laura. Laura scooched over so they were both lying on their sides. She lined her arms up with Carmilla’s.

“I just realized how tired I am,” Laura whispered into Carmilla’s ear. She stretched her hand over Carmilla’s, and Carmilla laced her fingers with Laura's. Carmilla dragged their hands to the top of Carmilla’s stomach.

“I thought ‘sleep was for the weak.’” Carmilla teased.

“I’m weak. I’m so, so weak.” Laura whined.

“Mmm. Go to sleep. I’ll wake you up when we have to go.”

Laura smiled. “You warm now?”

Carmilla breathed a light laugh and brought their hands higher up to her chest. She squeezed. “So warm.”

Laura closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep while holding Carmilla close to her chest.

\-----

They did this every day. The next day, Laura brought a blanket to leave in the clubhouse, and Carmilla brought another pillow. (It became Laura's favorite because it smelt like her.) Everyday, they would come back, light the candles and just exist in the same place. Some days they would talk, other days they would fall asleep together, others still Carmilla would watch Laura sleep while holding onto the smaller girl.

For such a grim and dark place, the two found comfort in the old building. Mostly, they found comfort in each other.

Laura brought up coming-out stories one day, and Carmilla told her about her mother and brother, how it didn’t go as well as she planned it to be. It was an abbreviated version: she left out the name-calling and crying, but it was the truth.

Laura told her story. How she’d always known in some sense, but it still scared her. She was scared of disappointing her father, and she was afraid of losing everybody. When she told her father, he had nothing to offer but his love and support, as well as a pair of open arms for his crying daughter. That night brought them the closest they’ve ever been.

“But it didn’t go so well when I told other people.”

“Other people?”

“You know that girl Betty? She’s in AP English, she does the thing with Silas High?”

“Oh, her,” Carmilla leaned on her elbows. “The girl you called a bitch.”

“You heard that?” Laura’s cheeks turned pink.

“I was sitting right next to you, Hollis.”

“Right. Anyway, we met in middle school, and we were best friends for the longest time. We did everything together. We had sleepovers, went to the movies, went shopping. We chose to go to Janarius together because we didn’t want to be separated.” Carmilla feared where this story was heading. “After I had told my dad I was gay, he told me I needed to tell Betty. And I agreed, but it wasn’t that simple.” Laura laughed a sad laugh and sniffled. “I had feelings for her. And for some reason I thought I should tell her that.” Laura breathing quickened and her chest felt cold. Her mouth was dry. “She didn’t take it well.” She felt the tears falling down her cheeks, but she wiped them away. Carmilla grabbed her hand. “It was like she was a different person, she completely turned on me. She told everyone else that I had a crush on her and people started treating me differently.” Laura’s lip started wavering, but she took a deep breath and continued. “This all happened last year. She’s a complete stranger now.” She let out another shaky breath and let her lip waver this time. “I think I’d like to stop talking about it now, if that’s okay.”

Carmilla pulled her in. “Of course it’s okay.” Laura nuzzled her face into Carmilla’s neck, and she let herself cry into Carmilla. Carmilla was angry. Laura never hurt anybody, and she would never plan on it. That someone went out their way to hurt this girl, to cause her so much pain, enraged Carmilla. She wanted to show to Betty the pain she caused. Show her the tears that are running down her neck more than a year later. Laura’s biggest fear was losing everybody, and Betty was the reason it realized itself.

But she was going to be there for Laura. Protecting Laura was more important than hurting Betty. So when she was holding Laura, saying “I got you, I got you,” it wasn’t about Betty at all.

All she could feel was Laura’s breath on her neck. Laura’s arms wrapped around Carmilla and never left; they only tightened. She held Laura for a half an hour that day, and she didn’t care that she was late for her next class.

\-----

Carmilla drove Laura home the night of the Lock-In, to get ready before they had to go back to school. Carmilla pulled up to their normal drop-off place. Laura noticed the packed duffel already in the back seat of Carmilla’s car.

“Are you going to head home before the Lock-In starts?”

“I don’t know. They said they needed some help with set up, so I might go give some of my free labor.”

“Carmilla Karnstein working out of boredom? For free? _Has hell frozen over?_ ”

Carmilla dug her cell phone out of her pocket and stared at it’s black screen. “Do you think now would be a good time to let my mom know I won’t be coming home tonight?”

“Probably, she might think you’re doing terrible things with terrible people.”

“It won’t be that far off.”

“Oh, hush. I know you’re excited, you don’t have to hide it.” Laura stepped out of the car. “See you at seven.”

“See you.”

Carmilla turned back around and began her drive back to school.

\-----

 

_**mistress of the snark (5:37pm):** bring a flashlight tonight._

_**my cupcake (5:41pm):** okay…?_

_**mistress of the snark (5:43pm):** i’ll explain later_

Laura set her phone down and continued to pack her overnight bag.In it she put the essentials, toothbrush, toothpaste, a book she probably wouldn’t have time to read, her sleeping bag. She reached into her nightstand and threw in the flashlight as Carmilla had requested. She spent a lot of time picking out a set of pajamas, but eventually settled on a pair of red and blue plaid pajamas pants and a loose white t-shirt. She came very close to choosing the tiled tardis sleeping pants, but decided against it last minute. She put on a pair of sneakers, grabbed the pillow resting on her bed, and emerged from her room.

“Dad, you ready to go?”

“Isn’t it a bit early?” he asked as he fished his car keys out of a bowl.

Laura checked the time. “Only a little bit.” She opened the door and passed it along to her dad.

Laura had yet to tell her dad about Carmilla. It had been two weeks since the start of school, and Carmilla and Laura nearly spent every moment of it together, at least when they were in school. She was afraid it was too early to tell if it was a lasting relationship, but now was as good as any time.  “I met someone”

“Laura,” he started. She was confused because it sounded like he was about to lecture her. “ _I have eyes_. I didn’t want to ask because I thought it would be nosy, but I figured you were talking to someone because you never put your phone down.” Laura blushed. That has to be an exaggeration. “So, what’s her name?”

“Carmilla.” Laura smiled while she said her name.

“Now is this a ‘friend?’ Or is this a ‘friend-friend?’”

“Really, dad?”

“Look, I’m happy for you either way. I just want to know if I should take out my shotgun when she comes over.”

“It’s too early to tell. Both? I don’t know.”

“Ah, _that_ type of relationship.” Laura’s father almost said “You should just tell her how you feel,” but he remembered what happened last time. “Do what you feel is right,” is what he eventually settled with.

“Dad,” Laura breathed. “She’s not Betty. She knows how I am.”

Mr. Hollis nodded.

“I just feel happier when I’m with her.”

Mr. Hollis smiled. “I’m happy if you’re happy.”

The two drove the rest of the way making small talk; Laura talked about the English program she did after school, her father talked about the troubles with the new principal.

“She called me and the other janitor to her office and told us we had to stop slacking off. Me! Half the teachers in that school feed off their tenure, and she’s telling me to stop slacking off. I’m telling you Laur, I was _this_ close to storming out of her office.”

“Why did they even replace the old principal. I thought she was doing great.”

“Silas High had the highest test scores in the county when Principal Cochrane was here. Our students were happy, our teachers were working hard. We had a 90% graduation rate.”

“It’s only been two weeks. Is it really that bad?”

Mr. Hollis nodded. “She just doesn’t care about the students. She cares about the football players and how much money they rake in per game, but that’s it.” Laura remembered Kirsch talking about being on the football team. He was a wide receiver.

Mr. Hollis unlocked the door for Laura. “I’m sure it’ll get better as time progresses. She’s got to learn how to be a principal,” Laura assured her father.

Mr. Hollis nodded. “You’re right. Have a good time tonight, L.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Have fun with Carmilla.”

Laura stepped out of the car and made her way down the campus. She saw the mobs of girls overflowing out of the entrance of the school, and heard the hollering that was normal of an all-girls school. The noise could be heard from every corner of campus.

Laura walked through the front doors of the main building and saw the mob of girls in pajamas, onesies, and the like up close and personal. It was packed to the brim, and Laura had to duck and squeeze between other girls to make it to the front. In total, there were about 75 girls. The junior class was too small to have their own individual lock-in, so they were grouped up with the senior class.

Laura stuck her head as high as it could go to look for Carmilla's distinct black hair when a girl standing at about six foot walked right in front of her. Laura was vertically challenged, but sometimes people were just rude.

Laura gave up trying to get to the front after about five minutes of wiggling around. Carmilla wasn’t here. She wasn’t waiting outside leaning against a wall or inside sitting on in one of the couches near the windows.

A familiar cracking sound filled the lobby of the main building, and all movement and chatter among the students ceased. A shrill shout was heard over the intercom.

" _All girls report to the gymnasium._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is the lock-in :)))))) 
> 
> tumblr: hollsteinz.tumblr.com  
> tag: #AGAU


	4. The Lock-In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla and Laura attend the long-awaited Lock-In, and Carmilla has something she wants to show Laura.

The crowd quieted and made its way to the basement, where the gymnasium was.

The gymnasium was average sized; a basketball court with bleachers surrounding it on two sides was really all it was. During the fall months, it was used as a volleyball court, so the net from the practice earlier that night was still out. Other than that, two doors at the back corners had the letters LOCKER ROOM painted over it. Left one was home, right one was guest, as Laura remembered when she helped manage a few of the different sports teams the two years previous.

Using decorations from a local discount party supply store, the teachers had completely decked out the hall. Ribbons and posters and banners seemingly covered every inch of the gymnasium. At one side, tables supporting red and black bowls (Janarius's colors) holding popcorn, chips, and candy for the night. At the other end of the table, at least 15 pizza pies were stacked on top of each other.

At the top of the bleachers, Carmilla was sitting, very out of place, but her pajamas (a pair of black sweatpants and a black t-shirt, no less) fit in quite well, almost like she had coordinated. But she wasn’t reading a novel or staring at her phone, and was instead scanning the flock of girls that had just entered the hall. She locked eyes with Laura and signaled her to join her on the bleachers.

Once the students settled into their seats, the president of student council stepped in front of the bleachers. She went off on where every activity was being held, the list of movies that would be playing in the gymnasium, and every other piece of information that would be useful for 75 girls staying awake from dawn until dusk. Everyone who could stay awake for all twelve hours were given the gift of five additional bonus points on any midterm of their choice, but they did designate a room specifically for napping. However, those who fell asleep were subject to have their faces doodled on by the morning.

Carmilla nudged Laura. “Did you bring the stuff?”

“You can say the word ‘flashlight.’ And yes, I did. Am I going to find out what it’s for?”

“All in due time.” Carmilla brought her attention back to the president who was speaking on the required activities for the evening, smiling mischievously.

“Everyone is to head to their homerooms, where your moderator will explain your activity,” the president said.

And the student body was off. Lock-In’s always started with a homeroom bonding activity. After all, it wouldn’t be a school activity if there wasn’t at least one thing nobody wanted to do. Last year, each homeroom addressed the topic of “conflict,” whatever that means. The homeroom leaders read off sheets directing the other students how to address a conflict. They encouraged the use of phrases like “I feel” or “I am,” so it didn’t take long for a girl to loudly announce “I am bored to death.” After the homeroom leaders realized just how difficult it is to get a group of 25 teenage girls to focus at 9 o’clock on a Friday night, the activity was abandoned and the girls joined their respective cliques and began to talk.

“I overheard what the topic of discussion is,” Laura said, making her way down the bleacher steps. “'The ethics of lying.'” Leave it to Catholic school to start a night of “fun” by talking about human tendency to be dishonest.

“That’s a heavy topic for a Friday night.”

“It’ll be interesting, that’s for sure.”

The girls made their way to Room 307 and were among some of the last to enter. The seats were arranged in a circle, and an all too-familiar blond was handing out flyers to everyone in it.

Betty.

“So as you can see from the header, we’re going to be talking about lying. When it’s okay, when it’s not. We’re gonna start off with a hypothetical story.”

Laura was not having any of it. Not only was she not paying attention to Betty, but she was playing with her hair, tearing apart the split ends, and it was obvious she was doing it on purpose. If Carmilla was next to her, she would’ve kicked her and told her to stop being so obvious.

Laura wanted to annoy Betty, and she was succeeding. When Betty looked at Laura, a length of time that was no longer than a second, she stammered and coughed. Whether it was an attempt to get Laura to sit up straight or she had genuinely lost her place in the story, Carmilla wasn’t sure. Nonetheless, the tension could be cut with a knife.

If all teenage girls were spiteful, Laura could be their leader. It was hard to believe that the girl that cried into her for the longest time could turn into a vindictive person over the same issue. But Laura was bitter, and in many senses, Carmilla knew she had a right to be. Carmilla tried to ignore Laura for the time being, but soon realized that Betty is literally the most boring person to listen to ever.

Betty told a story of a student who lost his textbook and went on to steal another student’s instead of pay the fee. But as the story unfolded, it was revealed the student’s father was abusive and would’ve beat him if he came home and told him he lost his book. The girls were told to imagine the other student, the one whose book had been stolen, coming up to you and asking if you’d seen her book.

“So,” Becky concluded, “do you tell her the truth so she get’s her book back, or do you lie so your friend doesn’t go home to face his abusive father?”

The group was silent; to say that nobody was interested was an understatement. The silence was quickly turning into awkwardness, and soon Betty was stammering and repeating the question, clarifying what she meant. Carmilla looked around the group and realized no one was going to answer. 

“I’d lie,” Carmilla said. Everyone turned their attention to her. She didn’t want to say more than that, but people were looking at her, expecting more of an explanation. She cleared her throat. “The situation is going to suck for somebody in the end, and it’s obviously a lot better to see someone have to pay a fine rather than another person come to school with a black eye. It seems pretty simple.”

The other students made murmurs of agreement.

“But if you lie,” Betty began, “wouldn’t that be avoiding the actual problem that your friend’s father is abusive.”

Carmilla squinted. “That wasn’t part of the question.”

“You have to weigh in the consequences. No situation you ever encounter is going to be black and white.”

Carmilla crossed her arms and sank back in her seat when others began to talk. _Yup, I can definitely understand why Laura hates her._

\-----

When the homeroom activities ended and the girls were free to play games or watch movies or just talk, Carmilla pulled Laura to the side.

“Do you have your flashlight?” Laura pulled the light out of the pockets of her sleep pants and waved it front of Carmilla. Carmilla checked her watch: 10:30.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on now?”

Carmilla stared into her eyes and bit her lip, like she was debating something in her head. “Nope.” She started walking down the half-lit hall, and Laura followed.

“Okay, then I guess I’ll have to use my deductive reasoning skills.”

Carmilla chuckled and looked at the doors they were passing. “Go ahead, sweetheart.”

“Okay, if we need flashlights, the place we’re going is obviously dark.”

“Mmm.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” It wasn’t a noise of agreement, more of an acknowledgment she had said anything at all. Laura watched Carmilla closely, and Carmilla froze when she realized Laura was eyeing her.

“See something you like?”

Laura squinted and her faced scrunched. She put her finger up. “You’re looking for something. You were looking at all the classroom numbers on this floor. Do you seriously not know where every class is yet?”

“I do so, I just can’t see the numbers because it’s dark.”

Laura smiled. Gotcha. “So you’re looking for a classroom, then.”

Carmilla opened her mouth, and then closed it. “Touché.” Carmilla continued looking, and then came to the realization.

“Wait, we’re on the wrong floor. We need to get to the main level.”

“Another clue!”

“You are ridiculous.”

They plundered down the hall to the stairwell. “Wait, are you taking me to watch the movie? ‘Cause I’ve already seen the Fault In Our Stars and I didn’t like it the first time.”

“We’re not going to see the movie, will you be patient for five minutes?”

“No,” Laura laughed at Carmilla’s irritation. “Plus, it’s fun to mess with you.”

Carmilla let out a long sigh when she finally spotted the classroom she was looking for. She looked down the hallway to make sure she was in the clear; she was. She grabbed Laura by the arm and dragged her into the classroom.

“The ninth grade algebra room,” Laura ran her fingers along the front row of desks. “How exotic.” Laura turned around to face Carmilla, and settled on leaning against one of the desks.

“So, on my first day of school, two weeks back, you showed me your little secret. The old picnic table in the forest. And, then a few days later,” Carmilla shoved her hand in her pocket and started playing with something in it, “we both went into the old building and made our club house. That’s our secret. Now,” Carmilla took her hand out; she was holding a key. “I want to show you my secret.”

Laura couldn’t say much other than, “Okay…” After all, they were in the algebra room. Laura spent two entire semesters in that room learning about inequalities and how to graph a line. What could be so secretive about an ninth grade classroom?

“I didn’t know algebra had that many secrets.”

Carmilla pointed at the back of the room, at a utility closet. “You never wondered what was in there?”

Laura shrugged. “Textbooks, probably.”

Carmilla smiled. There weren’t any textbooks in there. Carmilla grabbed Laura by the arm again and tugged her.

“C’mon.”

“Carmilla, if you lock me in the closet I will never talk to you again.”

Carmilla smirked as she brought the key to the door. “Promise?”

“Carmilla!”

“Oh, hush, I’m not going to lock you in the damn closet.”

Carmilla pushed open the door and revealed, much to Laura’s surprise, anything but a stack of textbooks. Or markers or art supplies or any other thing you’d expect to find in a school closet. But that was just it. It wasn’t a closet at all.

It was a stairwell that went down about eight feet before a sharp ninety degree turn. Carmilla was smiling and looked up at Laura. Laura was not smiling.

“What?” she whispered before taking a step back.

“It’s a tunnel!” Carmilla said a bit too excited. Laura was still blank-faced. “You know, the underground tunnels.” Laura racked her mind for any mention of the word tunnel. She remembered in freshmen year hearing a rumor about a secret tunnel that connected that old building to the new building. She never thought there was any truth to it.

“It’s real?”

Carmilla nodded. “That’s what I was doing this whole time. I was looking for the tunnel.”

“And you found it in less than four hours?”

“Less than two, actually.” Carmilla flipped the key between in her fingers. “Getting _this_ was a bit more difficult, though.”

Laura looked at Carmilla, then at the tunnel, and back at Carmilla. “How did you -- why did you,” Laura sputtered. She took a long look at the tunnel. “Carmilla, I don’t know.”

The tunnel, despite being lit by a few overhead lamps, was terrifying. Full-on, _I’m not sure if I’ll come out of this alive_ terrifying.

Carmilla’s smile, which was way too enthusiastic considering they were breaking who knows how many school rules right now, fell. She tried to brush it off.

“Whatever.” She closed the door. She tried to do one thing, one nice thing. And it just made her look like a weirdo. She was too embarrassed to say anything else, so she just turned her heels and started her way out of the classroom. It was a dumb idea anyway.

“Carmilla, wait a second.” Carmilla stopped. Laura looked at the door with furrowed eyebrows. She didn’t want to go in the tunnel, but she could tell it was important to Carmilla. Carmilla opened herself up, even if it was little odd, and Laura rejected her. She took a deep breath. What's the worst that could happen? “So, you already walked through it?"

The corner of Carmilla’s mouth moved up into half a smile. Laura had given in. She nodded. “I know for sure that it leads to the clubhouse.”

Laura sighed and waited for Carmilla to unlock the door again. Carmilla was about to step in when Laura stopped her again. “One condition.” Laura held out her hand. “If you let go, I will haunt your ass in the afterlife.”

Carmilla took her hand. “I love conditions.”

“You’re a cheese ball.”

“But a very hot cheese ball, right?”

Laura made a noise similar to gagging and started her descent down the stairs. After the turn, it wasn’t as bad as Laura thought it would be. There was a lightbulb hanging about every ten feet, and nearly all of them worked. It wasn’t claustrophobic, but it wasn’t spacious enough where you thought something would jump out at you either. But Laura didn’t even think about letting go of Carmilla’s hand, and neither did Carmilla.

The length of the tunnel was another force to be reckoned with, however. It was a straight run of about 50 yards, and its overstimulation of all that was in front of her made her scared to look behing. Laura felt her stomach doing tumble after tumble. At the end of the hallway, a wooden door came into focus.

One of the lights flickered and blacked out. Laura squeezed Carmilla’s hand. “I’m right here,” she said, and Laura relaxed the grip.

“Is that why you said bring a flashlight?” Carmilla nodded. They were almost at the end of the tunnel now when Laura stopped dead in her tracks.

“Wait a minute!” she whisper-shouted. “This means we broke lock-in!”

Carmilla rolled her eyes. “You’re a criminal in the making.”

The lights continued to flicker and Carmilla could feel her pulse rising. They didn’t flicker this much when she was mapping out the tunnel the first time. In reality, she didn’t want to do it at all; she hated small spaces, the dark, as well. But she wanted to do something for Laura. And as weird as it was, Carmilla knew Laura would love it. Sure, Laura was a rule follower, but she craved adventure. But Laura couldn’t get out of her comfort zone on her own. Carmilla might not have actively thought about it, but she saw the way Laura’s face lit up when they walked into the clubhouse or when she snuck off from the rest of the group. She loved it.

She just had to last a few more seconds and she’d be in the clear. They reached the door and Carmilla fumbled for the key in her pocket. Her body was more nervous than her mind was. Her hand was shaking but she couldn’t see that in the shadows of the tunnel. She felt Laura’s hand steady the shaking and push it into the door knob and twist.

Carmilla felt a release, and in mess of emotions and fear and nervousness, she hastily ran through the door, catching her ankle on Laura’s. When Carmilla began to fall, she grabbed onto Laura’s shirt for leverage. It didn’t work, and soon both of them were on the ground. Carmilla had fallen right the back of her head and the shock from it reverberated through her entire body. It left a tingling sensation, but she also felt a tug in her stomach. Carmilla let her head fall against the wood of the clubhouse and let out a guk from the back of her throat. The room was spinning and white speck burst onto the ceiling, but that was probably from the head injury. Or because Laura had fallen on top of Carmilla.

“Carmilla, are you okay?!” Carmilla blinked a few times when she felt Laura’s hands grazing the sides of her neck. _That can’t be real._ “Carmilla, do you have a concussion or something, because we should, well, _I don’t know_ what we should do--” Carmilla lifted her head up. The sharp pain that shot through her bones subsided and turned into some light throbbing at the back of her head. She stared at Laura in silence.

“Can you see?” Laura said, keeping Carmilla’s head in place and staring straight into your eyes. She was checking her pupils.

“Mmm.”

“Can you move your legs?” Carmilla slightly moved her legs for effect. The legs that Laura was on top of.

“What year is it?”

“Cupcake, I’m fine.”

“That’s exactly what someone who’s not fine would say.”

She tried to keep a straight face in the seriousness of the situation, but Laura was cupping her cheeks now, and Carmilla was moving her hands up Laura’s arms. She let out a breathy laugh. Carmilla’s breath bounced off Laura’s neck and she realized how warm Carmilla was in comparison to the drafty house.

“My name is Carmilla Karnstein and I’m a junior at St. Janarius Academy for Girls. We’re at the Lock-In right now, and I just showed you the secret tunnel.”

“Okay,” Laura said tentatively. She still wasn’t satisfied but didn’t feel like moving either. “Who am I?”

Carmilla laughed a quiet laugh deep in her throat and threw her head back, which scared Laura, because she really didn’t need to be throwing her head around hard surfaces right now.

“You are Laura Hollis.”

Carmilla’s voice was low, and quiet enough that even if someone else was in the room, they wouldn’t hear. Laura stopped looking for her injuries and looked into the brown, almost black eyes curtained behind equally as black hair. Hidden in the shadows, Carmilla’s eyes never left other girl’s lips. Carmilla hesitated, debating whether to continue. She did.

“And we are both in a situation right now.”

And Laura’s skin came alive, suddenly realizing how her body was touching Carmilla’s body, feeling every sensation, every small touch and pressure that Carmilla made. She felt Carmilla’s hipbone digging into her thigh, and Carmilla’s dainty fingers sliding across the newly formed goose bumps of her arm, and the way her feet were tangled with Carmilla’s, and her hands resting on the Carmilla’s cheeks so lightly. She didn’t realize you could feel the warmth from someone’s blush. She couldn’t say anything; she was feeling too much.

“I…” she looked at Laura’s lips and then back at her eyes. Carmilla could see the hunger, _the want_.

“I’m going to do something,” Laura interrupted, her voice sudden and loud and echoing in the insides of Carmilla’s ears.

The hands resting on Carmilla’s face stiffened. The fingers moved from her cheeks to the spot behind her ear. Air filled Carmilla’s lungs in a gasp. Laura shifted her body on Carmilla’s and suddenly the heat and tension in their bodies was too much, too overwhelming. Carmilla needed a release.

Laura closed her eyes and brought her lips to Carmilla’s.

It started as a only a touch of lips, but the euphoria of the moment clicked when Laura felt Carmilla kissing her back. Laura cradled Carmilla’s head and, in turn Carmilla grasped Laura’s arms, holding onto the girl and the moment. Laura could only feel the cold sensation of Carmilla’s nose against her own. Gentle, chaste, slow.

But, then, holding her lips against Carmilla’s turned to moving her lips against Carmilla’s. Carmilla moved her hands from Laura’s arms to around her neck. She held Laura closer and closer until she could a quick-paced heartbeat flutter against her chest. A rhythm of waves dissipated between their lips, and the puckering and un-puckering became more and more heated, more erratic. Laura couldn’t help but smile.

Carmilla mumbled behind the kiss, which became a problem for Laura because she really just wanted to keep kissing Carmilla.

“Laura,” another mumble, but more defined this time.

Laura pulled herself back, red in the face and wide-eyed. “What?” Carmilla heard the fear in her voice.

“ _Shh, shh_ ,” Carmilla stroked Laura’s cheek with her thumb. “I want to keep doing this but…maybe someplace a little bit more comfortable.” Carmilla’s eyes darted to the the arrangement of couches.

“Oh,” Laura looked at the couches, a little intimidated, but too happy to worry about anything else. Or anyone else. “I guess I wouldn’t be opposed to that.” Laura pursed her lips to hide the smile. When she couldn’t hold it anymore, she smiled and hid her face in Carmilla’s neck. She let out a little groan, as if to acknowledge just how ridiculous this situation was.

Laura hopped up, pulling Carmilla’s hand with her, and all the thoughts of the outside world flooded her mind. That this was happening right now, right here was terrifying, but that’s what Carmilla was. Carmilla was risk and crossed boundaries and passion, and it scared Laura. It made her ache, with a tug in her pelvis she only felt in her most private moments. Carmilla had turned Laura into a blubbering mess of need. But she couldn’t help but want to smile at the same time.

Carmilla and Laura both sat against the pillows, side by side. Laura crossed her legs, and then uncrossed them. She tried to get comfortable but couldn’t settle on a single position, because none of them were _too_ comfortable. She wasn’t sure what to do but realized _hey, a very attractive girl wants to kiss me right now, so maybe I should focus on that_. She turned to Carmilla, who was watching her with an amused expression, but concerned all the same.

“Hi,” Laura said, a little shy. She wanted to continue, but wasn’t exactly sure how to. Carmilla tilted her hid a little, the same way a puppy does.

“Are you okay?” Carmilla played with her hands and laughed nervously. “I mean, was that okay?”

Laura made a pff noise. “Yes, yeah, totally. That was definitely 100% okay.”

“Okay, because you fell on me and I was compromised.” Laura laughed and grabbed Carmilla’s hand, closing the distance between them just a little bit more.

“Compromised?” Laura whispered.

“Yeah. I felt threatened.”

Laura bit her lip and decided to take a chance. She put her face ever closer to Carmilla’s, almost comically. “Do I scare you?” she said in her classic, Carmilla voice.

Carmilla threw her head back and laughed a little too loudly. She wrapped her arms around Laura and pulled the shorter girl closer, so she was straddling Carmilla’s lap.

She bit her lip and pulled the face she always pulled when she was being sarcastic. “Definitely.” Carmilla stroked the sides of Laura’s hipbones.

“Scarier than a ghost?”

“Mmm.” Carmilla stared at Laura’s mouth again. The girl never stopped smiling, it seemed.

“Scarier than Frankenstein?”

“Technically, it’s Frankenstein’s monster.” Laura rolled her eyes. “But yes. Scarier than every creature of the night.”

“Even you?”

Carmilla pulled Laura in with a sudden jolt, so close that Laura could feel the cold hovering off of Carmilla’s nose. Their combined inhales and exhales were the only noises that could be heard for a mile, as far as Laura was concerned.

Carmilla lowered her voice and grinned. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves now.”

This time, Carmilla was the one to pull Laura in, their lips touching with a gasp. Carmilla’s hand glided up and down Laura’s sides, touching new places Carmilla had not yet been before. First the flat of Carmilla’s hand went down her spine, and then to the small of Laura’s back, where it stayed for a while. Then she held a firm hug around Laura’s body as the other girl cupped Carmilla’s cheeks, focusing on the kiss. It was slow, but burning. Laura felt herself falling, falling, falling into this stranger.

They let their bodies fall into the pools of blankets and pillows protecting their bodies, so Carmilla was completely sprawled out beneath Laura. Laura grazed her tongue against Carmilla’s and that feeling deep within her stomach came back. Carmilla toyed with the hem of Laura’s shirt until she finally moved her hand up the bare skin of Laura’s back. Laura shivered.

Preoccupied with Carmilla's touching and feeling, Laura couldn't attention to her own movements. She moved her leg to get some balance. Suddenly, Carmilla’s lips fell from Laura’s and she moaned. Laura realized her knee was pushing into Carmilla and she panicked and began to move it, but Carmilla gathered herself and only held the girl closer.

 _Okay, this is good_ , Laura thought. 

Carmilla moaned again, but not as deep as the last time. It was higher and more restrained, but so sweet, so quiet, so needing. Her hips ever so slightly rubbed against the fabric of Laura’s jeans.

_Okay, this is really good._

She knew what Carmilla wanted, so she pushed her knee in harder, but Carmilla held her moan back with a hitched breath. She laughed against Laura’s lips.

“Having a good time?” Laura said in a breathy voice, with a giggle toward the end.

Carmilla groaned, a little because of the embarrassment, a little because of Laura’s movements.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Laura moved her lips down to Carmilla’s jaw and peppered it with kisses until she made her way back to the taller girl’s mouth.

Carmilla smiled into the kiss again, and, for some reason, the word “unravel” came into Laura’s mind. She pressed into Carmilla again.

“ _Oh my God_ ,” Carmilla gasped, a bit awkwardly since Laura’s mouth was still on her.

Laura felt arms wrap around her and, when she blinked, she had been flipped over so Carmilla was on top.

“My turn.” Carmilla moved her lips down to Laura’s ear and left a soft kiss at its base. She moved her lips down Laura’s neck, sucking purple constellations with every movement. Laura threw her head back against the pillow and thought just how perfect a moment in time like this could be.

She stared at the ceiling as the girl’s lips moved and sucked and caressed her. It stopped. Carmilla came back into Laura’s field of view.

Laura’s eyes were dreamy, and her mind was in another place.

“Where’d you go?” Carmilla said, her lips still red from before. No response. “Earth to Laura?”

Laura’s eyes refocused on Carmilla. She smiled.

“I’m so happy,” she mumbled, and Carmilla rolled her eyes with a smile. Carmilla collapsed into a deadweight, and Laura let out an _oomf_.

Carmilla curled into Laura and rested her head on Laura’s chest. Carmilla reached down and intertwined Laura’s fingers with her own. Laura watched the girl’s back rise and fall in the pace that could only mean one thing.

“Are you seriously going to sleep?” Laura twirled the ends of Carmilla’s hair with her other hand. Carmilla squeezed her tighter.

“You don’t want to see me when I don’t get my eight hours.”

“You’re a nerd.”

“I'll choose to ignore that. Plus, if you keep doing what you were doing before,” Carmilla lifted her head so her chin rested on Laura, “There’s no telling what I might do to you.”

Laura smiled as she walked her fingers up Carmilla’s arm. “Do tell.”

Carmilla’s body began to shake with silent laughter, and it got louder and louder. “All in good time, cupcake.”

Laura’s hand fell down to Carmilla’s back and she moved her nails up and down with a light scratch.

“I hope you know this gives me free reign to draw on your face.”

Carmilla let out a _shhh_ as she drew circles on Laura’s arm with her fingertips.

Carmilla fell into a deep sleep on top of her, preventing any form of movement. Because of this, Laura had to eventually gave into her exhaustion, but before she closed her eyes and pulled Carmilla’s warmth closer to her, she noticed the little whines and mumbles Carmilla made in her sleep. She shuffled her body a little restlessly, and just as Carmilla’s grip on Laura became loose, it would tighten again, effectively trapping Laura in the cage that was Carmilla Karnstein.

When Laura woke up, Carmilla had nuzzled herself into the smaller girl’s neck. The black ringlets that became more tousled in her sleep completely covered her face. Laura wiggled her hands out and threaded her fingers through the black locks, moving the hair off the sleeping girl’s face. Carmilla wiggled her nose and opened her eyes briefly before groaning and turning to the other side of Laura’s neck.

“Too early.”

Laura looked at her watch: 5:53.

“We have to start heading back,” Laura said with a yawn, stretching her arms. “They let us out at 7.”

“Ugh,” the taller girl said, as she slipped down to Laura’s chest. “Stay here.”

“Carmill--”

Carmilla pulled her hands from Laura’s back and lifted her head to hover over Laura.

Carmilla stared at the girl lying face-up on the pillow with her hair pushed back and a sly grin that turned into a teethy smile with giggles.

Carmilla was too tired to think of something clever, so she met her lips with Laura’s neck instead. Her hickeys from earlier were still there, and sat on her neck much larger than she intended. Neither Laura nor Carmilla cared.

“You’re so beautiful,” she said between two kisses. Blood rushed to Laura’s face and her mouth fell open.

“Carm…” Laura whined as Carmilla sucked on her pulse point.

Carmilla pulled back, but did not make it very far, since Laura was holding onto her sweatshirt so hard that her knuckles had turned white.

“I guess,” Laura cleared her throat, “we can stay for a few more minutes.”

Laura and Carmilla could barely kiss from how much they were smiling.

\-----

The girls made their way back down the tunnel, but not before Laura insisted they watch the orange and red light rise above the horizon.

After they survived their second trek through the tunnel, they decided on viewing the rest of whatever movie was playing in the auditorium. The glares of girls who’d been awake far too long stung into them, and Laura realized they were still holding hands. Holding hands at an all-girls school normally didn’t bat an eye, and essentially every person knew Laura was gay anyway. There was no reason to let go, so she didn’t.

There was a half-hour left until they would open the front doors of the school and release the sleepy 16 and 17 year olds out into the world, but for right now, Laura sat with Carmilla, leant against a wall, watching whatever movie was glowing on the projector.

The silhouettes of the teenage girls stretched up the walls, defining every twitch and movement a little bit more. The sun had already risen, but the basement had no outside light creep in, ever. Quiet filled the room except for the tick-tack of the projector and the occasional shuffle from across the room.

And as Laura sat there, leaning her head against Carmilla’s shoulder, her mind ran with the overstimulation of the past few hours. The cold, the darkness, the sudden light, the lips, the skin, the heat. Carmilla must have heard the wheels in her head turning, because, in the same tone and pitch as before, she asked, “Where’d you go?”

“Just thinking,” Laura drew out.

Carmilla seemed to be satisfied with the answer, and rubbed her hand on the top of Laura’s thigh down to her knee.

“I’m exhausted.” Laura spoke again, gaining a few hushes from the people surrounding them.

“Yeah, I think anyone would be. After that.”

Laura smiled and turned her face into Carmilla’s shoulder. “I can’t believe that that happened. To me, of all people.”

Carmilla scoffed. “What do you mean?”

“You’re completely out of my league.”

Carmilla laughed. “True, but…”

Laura dropped her jaw and lightly pushed Carmilla.

“ _But_ ,” Carmilla repeated, and then paused. “There’s something about you.”

The white light from the projector brought out every contour in Laura’s face, and Carmilla couldn’t help but stare. She focused on her eyelashes this time, and the eyes behind them.

Laura looked down at her lap and returned to her position on Carmilla's shoulder. “I was thinking, do you, I mean, _if you’re comfortable with it_ , want to maybe come back to my house after? We could relax and get some real sleep and maybe watch some movies.”

Carmilla paused and had an unreadable expression on her face. “I think I might like that very much.”

If Laura hadn’t been sitting down, she would have down her happy dance right about now (or, at least her form of it).

After an unnecessary lengthy period of drawn out dismissal from the school, Laura and Carmilla were walking the short distance between Janarius and Carmilla’s car. Laura checked if anyone was behind them. Nobody was.

“Do you want to stop at Dunkin before--AH.”

Laura pushed Carmilla up against the side of her car.

Laura thought about doing a lot of things at the moment, and Carmilla’s panting and flushed face didn’t dissuade the thoughts, but realized a quick kiss would suffice for the moment. Public indecency is probably a no-no this early in the morning.

When she separated from Carmilla, Carmilla scoffed. “That’s it, after all that?”

Laura walked over to the passenger side and shrugged innocently. “I have no idea what you could possibly be talking about.”

Carmilla snorted.

_This girl is going to be the death of me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hollstein did the kiss thing guys
> 
> so yeah this took me a long time to write but i hoped you liked it!
> 
> i'm not sure when i'll post the next chapter since ap exams and other life things are coming up, but it'll hopefully be within the next two weeks :)
> 
> tumblr: agentaryastark.tumblr.com (i switched urls)


	5. Blanket Capes and Afternoon Naps

“I have an idea.”

Carmilla piqued an eyebrow and sat up. Carmilla had taken no time to make herself at home and sprawl out on the living room couch. Laura crawled up Carmilla’s legs and sat in the gap between them

Carmilla leaned into Laura and placed her palm on the top of Laura’s thigh.

“Do you?” she asked, her face close enough to feel Laura’s gasp.

Instinctually, Laura bit her lower lip when Carmilla began to run her hands along the sides of her hips. Hastily, Laura popped her hands out and shoved a DVD box set against Carmilla’s nose. “I thought we could binge the first season today since we’re not doing anything else!”

Carmilla squinted at the cover of the DVD set. The first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Figures. She ran her finger along the edge before taking it from Laura’s hands and placing it on the coffee table.

“I had some other ideas.” Carmilla kissed the spot underneath Laura’s ear. “Listen to some music,” she kissed her again, but lightly nipping her ear this time, “put on a scary movie, eat some popcorn.”

“What scary movie did you have in mind?” Laura whispered through her smile.

Carmilla slowly pulled away and tucked a strand of hair behind Laura’s ear. She smiled. “So long as you end up in my lap by the end, I don’t think it really matters.”

Laura’s eyes fluttered down to Carmilla’s still smiling lips. “You. Are. Unbelievable.”

Laura’s mind replayed the last twelve hours. The clubhouse, the falling, the kiss, the couch. Laura thought about like she would forget it at any moment, like any second she would wake up from her dream and she wouldn’t be here and Carmilla wouldn’t be here and none of it would have even happened. She couldn’t let go of the memories because they didn’t feel real enough.

She ran her fingers down a lock of Carmilla’s hair before resting her hand on Carmilla’s shoulder.

Laura jumped from a knock at the door. “Laur, you home?” a voice called.

Quickly, Laura peeled herself off of Carmilla right before she saw her dad walk into view.

“Hey Laur, didn’t think you’d be back so soon,” Mr. Hollis said, still calling from another room.

“Yeah, we managed to avoid the crowd and left pretty early.”

“We?” Mr. Hollis popped his head into the living room and immediately caught sight of the black haired girl sitting on his couch. “Ah. You must be Carmilla. Laura’s told me so much about you.”

Carmilla smiled and sat up even straighter. “I’m sure she has,” Carmilla winked at Laura. “All good I hope.”

“You have nothing to worry about, believe me.”

Carmilla turned back to Laura to see the girl turning red and fiddling with the fabric of the couch. “I thought--I thought you had work today,” Laura stuttered at her father.

“I do,” turning back to Laura and reaching into a bowl. “I forgot this.” He waved his cellphone.

Laura let out a huff that meant to be understanding but mostly just came out as annoyed.

“I’ll be off. You girls have a nice day.”

The door shut. Laura’s shoulders fell in a giant exhale. She picked up a couch pillow and shoved her face in it.

“Well, it’s safe to say one thing,” Carmilla said, pushing the pillow down to see Laura’s face.  
Laura furrowed her eyebrows and slumped against the couch. “What’s that?”

“Your father approves of your new lady-love,” she said, in an all-too lavish voice, walking her fingers up Laura’s arm.

“But he didn’t even see anything.”

Carmilla laughed. “When’s the last time you looked in a mirror?”

“What?”

Carmilla dragged the girl into the bathroom and set her in front of the mirror. At first, Laura’s sight travelled to Carmilla’s figure, down the curves of the girl and across the slivers of exposed skin. Laura shivered. Even in ratty pajamas, Carmilla exuded sex.

Carmilla floated a hand over to Laura’s shoulder and poked, pulling Laura out of her early morning daze.

“Mm?” Laura hummed before seeing it.

A big purple bruise sat on the underside of her jaw, pooling onto Laura’s neck, about the size of a thumb.

“That one’s mine,” Carmilla said, running a finger along its edges and kissing behind Laura’s ear.

“He knows everything!” Laura whispered, wide-eyed and blushing.

Carmilla laughed. “It doesn’t turn you on?”

“Oh God,” Laura moaned, turning around and nuzzling into Carmilla’s neck.

“On the brightside,” Carmilla’s hand travelled down Laura’s back. “My girlfriend and I have an entire house to ourselves. Whatever will we do?”

\-----

So, Carmilla’s really handsy.

Like, _really_ handsy.

Laura had already made that conclusion during the previous night at the clubhouse, but she enjoyed reminding herself.

 _My girlfriend_ (another word she loved the sound of) _really likes touching me. Huh._

“Are you cold?” Laura pulled herself off of Carmilla’s lips. 

“I’m fine,” she said quickly, craning her neck to reattach her lips to Laura’s. _God, she’s so needy and it’s so hot._

Laura dodged the first kiss. Carmilla came in for a second, but Laura curved out of her way again.

“Oh, so you don’t want my kisses now?” Carmilla teased.

Laura kissed her on the cheek and stood up.

“No…” Carmilla drawled out in a quiet whine.

Laura unfolded one the blankets sitting on the couch and flipped it over her head and against her back. With the blanket outstretched like a cape, she dove on top of Carmilla and wrapped herself and the blanket around the taller girl. She poked her head out through the blanket.

“Better?”

Carmilla nodded and pulled Laura up a little bit so her head was right below her neck. Carmilla rested her hands on Laura’s back, occasionally brushing her fingers across the waistband of her sleep pants.

Laura eventually did convince Carm to at least watch the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but not until a compromise to watch at least one scary movie after was made, as well.

Laura hit play.

Laura’s back rose with every breath she took, and every giggle the girl made reverberated into Carmilla’s body. So, yeah, it was a lot harder for Laura to focus on the television show than she would care to admit. She was too aware of where Carmilla was touching her, and it completely drowned out any other noise.

Carmilla was reaching for the remote when she felt a yawn from the girl on top of her.

“You’re tired,” Carmilla asserted.

“I’m fine...I’m just going to...close my eyes...rest them...y’know,” she said with another yawn.

Carmilla picked up a loose strand of hair and tucked it behind the girl’s ear, kissing her forehead gently. “Go to sleep, cupcake.”

Laura’s entire body giggled again. “Would it be cliche to say I can’t believe this is actually happening?”  
Carmilla played with the ends of Laura’s hair. “Cliches can be nice.” Another yawn. “Sleep,” Carmilla commanded in a whisper before kissing the top of Laura’s hair.

Carmilla lifted the hem of her tank top just enough to run her fingers along the bare skin on the small of her back and Laura realized that Carmilla was actually a really comfy pillow. She even smelled nice. _Just this once, I’ll fall asleep_ , Laura thought, _just this once..._

\-----

Carmilla inevitably fell asleep after watching Laura for a few minutes, and by the time she’d woken up, Laura was still fast asleep, nuzzled into Carmilla’s chest.

“Hey Laura, wake up.” She poked the smaller girl. “ _Laura_.”

“Mm, what time is it?” she mumbled into Carmilla’s collarbone.

“Almost 5. What time does your dad get back anyway?”

“Usually around seven.” Laura stood up and stretched her arms behind her head. “Unless there is overtime. But eh,” Laura said noncommittally. “Oh my goodness, you must be starving! Let me make you something!” Laura ran into the kitchen and called back as she sorted through her cupboards. “We have spaghetti...and cookies...and…” Laura turned and saw Carmilla rubbing the back of her head and staring at a spot on the floor.

“What’s up?” Laura asked, putting the boxes of spaghetti back in the cupboard.

“Hm?” Carmilla said distractedly. “Oh, I should just probably head home. My mother’s probably pretty pissed I didn’t tell her about the lock-in.”

“Wait, you never told her?”

“I thought we went over this.”

“We did, I just,” Laura stepped off the footstool against the kitchen counter, “figured you told her at, y’know, some point.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t.” Carmilla leaned against the countertop. “It’s probably not even that big a deal. She normally doesn’t worry.”

Laura wanted to ask questions. She wanted to know why Carmilla’s mother “normally doesn’t worry,” But as invasive as Laura could be, she knew it was better to bite her tongue, at least for the time being.

“Okay, but before you…” Laura carefully rose her hand to pat down Carmilla’s hair, taming the ebony locks only slightly. She tried again, but the hair returned to the same messy shape. Carmilla squinted at the girl patting the top of her head, and began to shake in laughter.

Laura rested her hands on Carmilla’s shoulders. “You have bed hair, and I don’t want your family making any assumptions about me.”

Carmilla pulled her waist in and met her lips softly. Laura cupped her cheeks and returned the kiss, effectively pinning Carmilla against the counter.

Carmilla smiled against Laura’s lips when she felt fingers smoothing across the skin of her back. “You’re very enthusiastic.”

Laura pulled her lips back and moved them to Carmilla’s neck. “It’s one of my better qualities.”

Carmilla hopped up on the counter and pulled Laura in between her legs. Maybe she could stay a little bit longer, after all.

\-----

_Maybe if I’m really quiet, nothing too bad will happen._

Carmilla slowly turned her key in an attempt to stifle the creaking of the door. She pushed it open and tiptoed her way in. She blindly made steps toward the stairwell. It was dark, but too early for Will or her mother to be sleeping. She just had to make it upstairs.

She spied a shadow in the corner of her eye.

Quickly, she bolted up the stairs toward her room, a bit louder than she intended. She heard someone call her name. She kept moving. When she reached her room, she closed the door behind her, and put her back against it.

“Carmilla,” the voice said calmly, but nonetheless loud. “Carmilla,” it repeated.

Carmilla slid down to sit on the floor. She hugged her knees.

“Open the door,” the voice said, now on the opposite side of the door.

“What do you want?” Carmilla yelled back.

“I want to talk to you.”

“We are talking right now.”

“Open the door.”

Carmilla sat paralyzed. Finally she stood up and cracked the door open to see her mother towered, arms folded. Don’t look down, look her in the eye, Carmilla thought. Don’t be a coward.

Carmilla held her breath waiting for her mother to speak.

“Where have you been?”

“School.”

“On a Saturday night?”

Carmilla swallowed. “Where else would I be?”

The silence echoed through the entire house.

“Anything else?” Carmilla asked haughtily.

Carmilla’s mother tapped her fingers on her arm before lifting it and pointing it at Carmilla’s neck.

“What’s that?”

Carmilla covered her neck with her hand. “Nothing.” She felt her pulse speed up. “Anything else?”

“Carmilla, I do not approve of--”

The door slammed shut before she could say anything else.

\-----

 **my cupcake (10:03pm):** Everything okay at home?

 **mistress of the snark (10:05pm):** Yeah why wouldn’t it be?

 **my cupcake (10:06pm):** Idk

 **my cupcake (10:06pm):** Just the way you’ve talked about your mom before. She might not be the one to appreciate a giant hickey or two on her daughter’s neck

 **mistress of the snark (10:08pm):** You don’t seem very apologetic

 **my cupcake (10:08pm):** Because I’m not.

 **mistress of the snark (10:10pm):** I left a few of my own so i guess we’re even…

 **my cupcake (10:11pm):** Mmm. Just wait until I get my hands on you next time.

 **mistress of the snark (10:12pm):** Oh? Laura Hollis are you talking dirty to me?

 **my cupcake (10:13pm):** Shhh.

 

Laura’s head was spinning. She had kissed Carmilla Karnstein. Specifically, she had made out with Carmilla Karnstein.

_She had pushed her knee into Carmilla Karnstein._

It was almost embarrassing, remembering the sounds she made, the way she felt. I mean, she made out with Carmilla on her kitchen counter. The ghosts of Carmilla’s hands were still making their way up down Laura’s body, and it made her cheeks red and her palms sweaty. She kept grabbing onto the end of her shirt feeling the material, as if the shirt and everything else wasn’t real.

 

 **my cupcake (12:13am):** I can still feel where you hands touched me. It’s all tingly.

 **mistress of the snark (12:14am):** Good tingly or bad tingly?

 **my cupcake (12:14am):** Do I even need to answer that question

 **mistress of the snark (12:15am):** You should probably take care of that…

 **my cupcake (12:17am):** I made some hot chocolate so I think that should do it.

 **mistress of the snark (10:18am):** Hot chocolate. Of course.

 **my cupcake (12:19am):** What else would I do?

 **my cupcake (12:20am):** oh

 **my cupcake (12:20am):** OHHHHHHH

 **mistress of the snark (12:21am):** I was only kidding

 **my cupcake (12:22am):** Oh okay then

 **mistress of the snark (12:22am):** Wait what do you mean by “okay then”?

 **my cupcake (12:22am):** wow i’m really tired...

 **mistress of the snark (12:22am):** laura no wait what did you mean

 **my cupcake (12:23am):** goodnight carm xoxoxo

 **mistress of the snark (12:24am):** oh my god you’re actually going to kill me

\-----

Carmilla stood in front of the sink and splashed a hand full of water on her face. Admittedly, she’d only signed up for this after school program to stay out of the house and as an excuse to get closer to Laura, but now she could feel herself drifting off in her own thoughts every time Lafontaine or Perry opened their mouths. Sure, she always had Laura to look at, but she was getting antsy.

Truthfully, the “Public School vs. Private School” debate is about as boring as it is overused. Carmilla had heard enough of this useless argument before, and she didn’t need it in the couple of hours her and Laura could be spending quality time together.

Carmilla sighed at her own reflection. Her appearance was getting messier by the day, and the sudden influx of homework and time spent awake speaking to Laura probably wasn’t helping. She thought about drowning her troubles in another cup of coffee, but she didn’t want to feel awake. She wanted to go somewhere and sleep for about fourteen hours.

_If it’s 4:10 now, I can probably convince Laura to leave fifteen minutes early, so that means I just have to get through another...thirty-five minutes. Thirty-five minutes? I can’t do that, oh my God._

Carmilla reached for the door handle, but it came flying back and hit her in the nose before she could react.

“Fuck, watch where you’re going, will you?” Carmilla shouted, rubbing her nose.

“Oh my goodness,” a familiar voice said. She coughed and changed her tone. “Sorry, I didn’t see you.”

Carmilla looked up and saw Betty approaching the sink next to Carmilla, avoiding eye contact by all means possible.

 _Oh, I’m gonna have fun with this_ , Carmilla thought.

“Wait,” Carmilla looked at her through the mirror, “you’re Betty, aren’t you?”

Betty turned on the tap. “Uh yeah. Carmilla, right? The transfer student?”

“Yeah, I’m still trying to get everyone’s name straight. So you’re Betty, okay.”

“Like I said. Yeah. What about it?”

“Oh, nothing. You’ve got quite a reputation around here.”

Betty had had enough. She turned around and leaned against the sink, arms folded, staring Carmilla in the eye.

“Do you have a problem or something?”

Carmilla laughed. “I can see how you were friends with Laura. You’re feisty, just like her.”

Betty’s face went white.

“Oh yeah, your thing with Laura? I know about that.”

Betty swallowed. “And?”

Carmilla scoffed. “Oh, I just wanted you to know that.”

Carmilla turned for the door.

“You’re dating her aren’t you,” Betty spat at Carmilla.

Carmilla looked behind her and let out a spiteful laugh. “Oh, so you’re a _homophobe_. Okay, that makes sense.”

“I’m not a homophobe, I--” Betty sputtered.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Carmilla slammed the door and couldn’t help but smile as she made her way back to the classroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked it!!!
> 
> this chapter was really short, but i was trying to rework the story so i could introduce new characters, and i think i accomplished it, so get ready to meet mattie soon!!
> 
> tumblr: hollsteinz.tumblr.com


	6. Burning for You

“So you guys are a thing now?” Laf asked, ripping Laura’s gaze away from Carmilla as she headed to the bathroom for the third time during that week’s meeting.

“Yeah, we, uh,” Laura stammered through a smile, “we’re official.”

“Finally,” Laf said, dropping their pencil dramatically on the desk. “These past few weeks have been sexual tension central.”

“Lafontaine, shh!” Perry hushed them, worried a teacher might hear.

Laura’s face turned red. “I’m sure that’s not true…”

“Oh, it’s true,” Laf interrupted, “Per and I were planning to set you guys up on a date since neither of you were making a move.”

Perry offered an awkward shrug.

“We’ve only known each other for six weeks!”

“And I think about five weeks ago you started planning your wedding with her. L, you’re more transparent than plastic.”

Laura’s face turned red.

“If it makes you feel any better, I think Carmilla might be more whipped than you are,” Lafontaine supplied.

(It did.)

\-----

A few minutes later, when they had returned to their word, Laura noticed Betty get up in the corner of her eye. In the most inconspicuous way she could, Laura watched Betty leave the room before heaving an unintentional groan.

“What’s up with her, then?” Laf asked.

“Nothing gets past you, huh?”

“What can I say, I’m a scientist.”

Laura waved it off and returned her gaze to her paper. “Just freshman year drama.”

Laf craned their head and looked back at Laura. “So you fell in love with a straight girl.”

Laura furrowed her eyebrows. “Okay, how in the hell did you know that?”

“Lucky guess.”

Perry spoke up when she saw the look on Laura’s face. “Lafontaine, you may be overstepping some boundaries here. I think there is more to this story than we are entitled to know.” She turned to Laura with an apologetic look. “Sorry, Laura.”

Laura cleared her throat. “No, no, it’s not a big deal, you guys are my friends, right? Betty’s just…” Laura tapped her pencil as she coughed again, “she didn’t respond very well.” Laura picked up her pencil and pointed to something on the handout, desperate to change the topic. “So, I figured Carmilla and I can do the survey at our school, and you guys can it at yours?”  
The students talked logistics of when they would do their independent research when Carmilla made her way back to her seat, a suspicious smile across her lips

A few minutes after, Betty walked in, white as a sheet.

When the meeting was over (Laura did make Carmilla stay the entire time, but not until Laura agreed they take the _long_ way home), and Laura was walking with her arm around Carmilla’s shoulders to Carmilla’s car, Carmilla humming happily, occasionally gracing Laura with a kiss to her cheek.

Laura beamed at Carmilla, who had been acting completely out of character since she got back from the bathroom.

“What’s got you all happy and without a care in the world?” Laura asked, lightly nudging her.

“Am I not allowed to be happy that I get to drive my girlfriend home and have her all to myself?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say happy. You’re usually…” Laura bit her lip, “ I don’t know, _flirty_ , or something.”

“Well, I can be _flirty_ …” Carmilla spoke in a lower voice as her hand travelled down Laura’s back to lower, less appropriate places.

Laura squirmed when Carmilla’s hand went a little too low.

“No, you still didn’t answer my question. What’s got you in such a good mood?”

Carmilla’s arm switched position so that her arm was the one around Laura’s shoulder.

“I kinda ran into someone in the bathroom.”

“Oh?”

Carmilla cleared her throat. “Some words were exchanged, if I remember correctly.”

“Well, who was it then?”

“That Betty girl.”

Laura nearly tripped over herself as the blood drained from her face. “What?”

“She’s got a bit of a ‘tude going on,” Carmilla continued, opening the door to her car and stepping in, “I mean, I’m one to talk, but, God, the utter crap that pours from her mouth…”

“Carm.”

“She even tried to pull some homophobic shit about how I was dating you…”

“ _Carm_.”

“What is it?”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Do what?”

“Start a fight with Betty just because I’m your girlfriend now.”

“I know. And I didn’t start a fight. I just -- look, she bumped into me, and I responded. That’s all that happened,” Carmilla assured.

“I know, but she’s not worth it. When it comes to Betty, I don’t even think I’m upset anymore. I’m just exhausted.” Laura unconsciously threw her hand up, but reached for Carmilla’s hand on its way down. “With her and anyone like her. She’s not worth my time, and she’s certainly not worth yours. And I’d rather you stay out of trouble than get in a petty fight with Betty over events that transpired two years ago.”

Carmilla frowned as she ran her fingers up Laura’s arm. “Are you mad at me?”

“Of course not.” Laura gave Carmilla a tired smile. “There was no way you could know.” She squeezed Carmilla’s hand with reassurance. “And it’s really hard to be mad at someone who stuck up for you.”

Laura reached across to cup Carmilla’s cheek, holding on to her eyes before pulling her lips in for a soft kiss.

“We’re taking the long way home right?” Laura whispered breathlessly against Carmilla’s lips.

“That was the deal,” Carmilla pecked the corner of Laura’s mouth, before turning to the wheel and shifting the car in drive. “You didn’t change your mind, I hope.”

“No, no,” Laura said, buckling her seatbelt, “I just want to stop somewhere along the scenic route. But we gotta hurry.”

The long way wasn’t really so much a scenic route, but more of a drive leading to the scenic route, but quickly turning left before the right turn onto the cliff side path that hikers usually went on during the summer. So the girls drove deeper into the backwoods that outlined the town, interchanging between chatting and singing along to whatever music happened to be on the radio.

“Take this right,” Laura interrupted mid-chorus.

“But this goes to the hiking trail…” Carmilla offered, slowing the car to a stop in front of the turn.

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

“That’s what all the serial killers say.”

“Shhh…” Laura hushed, connecting her lips to the spot right below Carmilla’s ear. “Trust me.”

Carmilla piqued an eyebrow, but made the turn. “Okay…”

Carmilla slowed the car’s speed to adjust to the dirt road.

“And take this left. It’s only a little further up.”

Carmilla drove through a few more layers of trees before she saw why Laura had wanted to take her here. Beyond the scant underbrush, a small dirt patio with a railing stood, followed by a drop that turned into a transparent lake, reflecting the last few rays left of the day. Carmilla shifted the car into park and before Carmilla could even reach for her own, Laura had undone her seatbelt and climbed over the console into Carmilla’s lap.

“So this is why you took me up here?” Carmilla guessed, wrapping her arms around Laura’s waist. “To take advantage of some unknowing girl who just moved into town?”

“It wasn’t _exactly_ my plan…”

“Oh?” Carmilla stared at Laura’s lips.

“But when you say it like that…” Laura wrapped her arms around Carmilla’s neck and pushed her lips against hers in a forceful kiss.

“I figured,” Laura said, until she was interrupted by another kiss, “this could be,” kiss, “our first date?” Carmilla began to kiss down her neck, and undid the first two buttons of Laura’s uniform to gain more access, kissing the unblemished skin that was there.

“Make out point as a first date?” Carmilla kissed her collarbone and looked up.

“I brought snacks,” Laura laughed. “Let me be a high school cliche just this once.”

Carmilla smiled and kissed her again.

Kissing Laura in her uniform was both a blessing and a curse. Carmilla wasn’t chivalrous enough to admit that the whole short-skirt-Catholic-school-girl thing wasn’t a turn on, but she could handle it during school hours. Every morning, Laura’s shirt was still tucked in her freshly pressed skirt and hair in a tight ponytail, but how she looked now wasn’t even comparable. Skirt untucked, shirt unbuttoned, hair loose, lips bruised, on Carmilla’s lap and thrusting into her. All Carmilla wanted was to flutter her fingers underneath Laura skirt and claim her.

“Can I?” Carmilla asked, with her hand on the next button of Laura’s shirt.

Laura nodded and Carmilla made quick work of the rest of the buttons. She ran her hands up and down Laura’s sides before settling on her waist, too nervous to push any further.

Laura settled her hand on top of Carmilla’s, dragged it on top of her bra and squeezed, urging Carmilla to do the same, and when she did, a fire burned in each of the girls bellies. Laura rode Carmilla’s lap harder and harder until she felt fingers glide along her hip, over the material of her underwear. The same hand snuck around to the back of Laura’s leg, squeezing in all the right places in all the right moments, and it made Laura wonder if this is what heaven feels like. She buried her hand into Carmilla’s hair again, keeping her lips on hers as Carmilla kneaded her breast with one hand and squeezed her ass with the other. Carmilla pushed Laura’s button down off her shoulders and threw it behind her head somewhere in the backseat. There was no way Laura would allow herself to be topped, so she bit Carmilla’s lower lip to reciprocate, evoking a high, needy moan from the girl under her.

“Laura,” she mumbled, Laura still sucking on her lower lip, “Laura.”

“Hm?” Laura acknowledged, who moved her lips to begin sucking and biting down Carmilla’s neck.

“First of all,” Carmilla smirked mid-pant, “take it easy on the hickies. Scarves aren’t allowed under the dress code.”

Laura pulled back with a cocked eyebrow and an amused expression. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” Carmilla realized just how hard it was to be stern with a half naked Laura Hollis straddling you.

“I guess,” Laura whispered, almost hummed, undoing the buttons on Carmilla’s shirt, “I’ll just have to put them,” she kissed right above the lace of Carmilla’s bra, “where no one can see them.”

Laura moved to settle on her knees in front of Carmilla, but Carmilla whined in protest. “Laura…”

“I’ve been wanting to taste you all week,” Laura said, hiking up Carmilla’s skirt slightly to reveal Carmilla’s matching and already soaked black underwear. “Oh,” Laura ran her finger along its waistband, “are these for me?”

Carmilla grabbed her wrist before she could move her fingers any closer. “Laura, wait.”

“Wait, you were serious?”

Carmilla nodded quickly and relaxed her grasp on Laura’s wrist.

Laura’s face contorted to concerned quicker than Carmilla thought possible. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, I thought, I mean—you took off my shirt—and I know that’s not how consent works. Oh my goodness, I’m sorry Carm, I didn’t realize that you didn’t want to. I— ”

“Cupcake, shh, shh, it’s okay!” She kissed Laura’s knuckle. “Believe me, I want to. I just— ” Carmilla sighed, and pulled Laura back up into her arms. “I don’t want our first time to be in a car.”

Laura nodded almost comically and looked around the interior of the Mercedes. “It’s a pretty nice car, though,” she teased, causing Carmilla to bury her face in her neck. “Kidding! Well it _is_ a nice car, but I get it. We can wait.” Laura pushed Carmilla’s chin up with her finger. “Really.”

“Thank you,” Carmilla said, resting her forehead against Laura’s.

“What can I say, I’m the best girlfriend in the world.” Carmilla interrupted Laura’s bragging with a peck to the corner of her mouth, which Laura was happy to return.

“And you know,” Carmilla kissed the skin below her ear, “that doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about fucking you in my car.”

Laura’s mouth went dry and she bit her lip in frustration. “ _Stop teasing_.”

“Well,” Carmilla reached behind her and grabbed Laura’s shirt, “this weekend my mom and my brother are going out of town. Family-type thing. How about you bring yourself over and we can take it from there.”  
Laura bit her lip and smiled. “Sounds like a plan.” She kissed Carmilla on the cheek, and took the shirt from her hands. “How ‘bout I put my shirt on, and we can watch the rest of the sunset?”

Carmilla winced. “I don’t know, I kinda like the view from right here.”

“Well, who wouldn’t?” Laura teased. Carmilla dropped her jaw to say something but nothing came out. “What?”

“I don’t know, I never expected you to be so... sassy. It’s cute.”

“Cute?” Laura frowned, still on Carmilla’s lap

“And by cute, I mean... _hot_.”

Laura giggled, closing the last button. “C’mon, you nerd.” She climbed back over the console to her seat, and immediately reached to unlock the door. “Let’s stand by the edge; it has a better view.”

Carmilla stepped out of the car and met Laura at the front, where she held out a hand for Carmilla to take. Instead of taking her hand and holding it, Carmilla took the hand and placed it on her own shoulder, while wrapping her own arms around Laura’s middle.

They reached the railing, and shifted so Carmilla was behind Laura, resting her chin on the smaller girls shoulder.

“There’s a little path that way,” Laura said, pointing to the left, where the cliff bent into a curve around the lake. “It leads down to the water. I used to go down there all the time when my dad would work during the summer.”

“By yourself?”

“Yeah, mostly. The summer was really quiet this year. Well, at least for me.”

Carmilla squeezed Laura. “You wanna tell me about it?”

Laura paused, and glanced back at the trail in the distance. “Someday.”

Carmilla sighed and kissed Laura’s temple.

“We should go camping,” Laura offered, switching subjects.

Carmilla smiled. “I’m not sure the great outdoors and I are a great pairing.”

“It’s not like we’re gonna hunt for our dinners. I was thinking more of a sleeping under the stars type of thing.”

Carmilla chuckled and rubbed her cheek against Laura’s. “Of course I’ll sleep under the stars with you.”

Laura returned her kiss. “Good.”

\-----

The sun had dipped under the horizon long before they returned to the car. Silas’s nighttime sky hadn’t much to offer most the time, what with the light pollution and tall factory smokestacks that paraded themselves in front of any location that might have a decent view, but Laura and Carmilla had found themselves far enough from town to see the handful of sparkling lights that sprinkled the sky at 7pm on that Thursday night.

Noticing the time, Laura asked Carmilla to take the quickest route home.

“What’s in it for me?”

Laura scoffed. “A kiss on the cheek, if you’re lucky,” she teased.

Carmilla’s brow furrowed. “Nuh-uh, lip-to-lip or you get nothing.”

“Lip-to-lip?” Laura laughed the childish term. “What are you, eight years old?”

“Fine,” Carmilla said, slowing the car down.

“ _Fine_ , I’ll kiss you.”

“Lip-to-lip?”

Laura rolled her eyes. “Lip-to-lip,” she agreed.

Carmilla smirked and pressed her foot on the gas.

\-----

Laura refused Carmilla’s offer to walk her to her door, and bid her goodnight with a chaste kiss to the corner of Carmilla’s lips. Carmilla pouted as Laura turned on her heel with a smirk.

“Can’t wait for Saturday!” Carmilla yelled to the girl’s back.

“I bet!” Laura yelled back.

Carmilla sighed into her seat and watched Laura enter her house before shifting into reverse and pulling back into the direction of her own house.

Laura giggled as she walked through the door into the dark entry way, hanging up her coat on the hook adjacent to the door and placing her shoes on the floor under where it hung. Just as Laura turned around the lights flickered, blinding Laura.

“Where have you been?”

“What?” Laura asked confused, squinting her eyes past the bright light.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” her father boomed. “Laura, for Christ’s sake, it’s already dark out.”

“Will you calm down?” Laura spat back. “It’s only 7:30.”

“It’s a school night, Laura. Ring a bell?”

Laura remember she had never called her father, but she refused to back down now, and stood with an unchanged expression. “Yeah, and I was in school until five.”

“And you couldn’t have called me to say you’d be late? Laura, it’s a Thursday night!”

“I heard you the first time!” she shot back.

Laura’s father sat down in the chair in the kitchen. “Well, where did you go then?”

Laura rubbed the back of her neck. “I hung out with Carmilla for a bit.”

“Of course you did,” he scoffed under his breath.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I finished all my homework, what is the big deal?” Laura shot back.

“The big deal is that this is your junior year.”

Laura curled her fists and exhaled. “Really? I forgot.”

His nostrils flared. “Excuse me?”

“No! Dad, I do all my homework, and I pass all my tests and I do every extracurricular my schedule can handle, and _I deal with it_. But when I was unhappy because of Janarius and the crap I went through, you just told me to try again. As if I wasn’t trying everyday! I tried so hard, dad,” her voice cracked in sob, “Every day I walked in that stupid building and I got called dyke and homo behind my back, and guess what? I just smiled back because you told me all I had to do was try. You told me it would work, and it didn’t. And I got tired of smiling. I thought there was something wrong with me because whenever I came to you, because it was always my job to fix it.”

“Laur—”

Laura inhaled, collecting herself. “But when I finally met someone who likes me just as much as I like them, and I’m happy, and sane and I feel _safe_ for the first time ever, all you want me to do is work.” Laura’s father sat there in silence, staring not at Laura’s eyes, but at some point in the wall right above her shoulder. “It’s never enough for you. And—” Laura bit her lip to stop herself from going any further, but her father caught her hesitation. “Never mind,” she attempted to correct herself.

“It’s all coming out,” he calmly spoke, an abrupt shift from how her was talking before. “You might as well say it.”

Laura’s eyes fell to the tiled floor. “And it makes me wonder whether you were like this before mom died.”

Laura’s father stared at the spot above Laura’s shoulder harder, but still in solemn silence. He slowly nodded his head.

“Go to your room, Laura.”

Laura marched out of the room in silence. Halfway up the stairs she took out her cellphone and opened messages.

 

**my cupcake (7:43pm):** do you think you could drive me to school tomorrow?

 

She was browsing her laptop when her phone buzzed Carmilla’s response.

 

**mistress of the snark (7:50pm):** do i look like a chauffeur

**my cupcake (7:50pm):** carm.

**mistress of the snark (7:51pm):** of course i’ll drive you. did something happen?

**my cupcake (7:52pm):** i got in a fight with my dad but it’s nothing. i would just rather avoid that awkward 20 minute silent car ride if possible.

**mistress of the snark (7:52pm):** gotcha.

**mistress of the snark (7:52pm):** how do you take your coffee?

**my cupcake (7:53pm):** you’re the best girlfriend in the world, you know that? and three sugars with chocolate powder on top

**mistress of the snark (7:53pm):** gosh i’m blushing

**my cupcake (7:54pm):** learn how to take a compliment karnstein

**mistress of the snark (7:54pm):** wait a sec let’s backtrack did you say chocolate powder????

**my cupcake (7:55pm):** so what i have a sweet tooth

**mistress of the snark (7:55pm):** well, it’s a good thing you’re cute. you have the culinary taste of a 5 year old.

**my cupcake (7:55pm):** excuse you

**my cupcake (7:55pm):** chocolate powder is delicious.

 

For a moment, Laura forgot about her father and is contradictory expectations, and when she tucked herself into bed that night, she read through all the texts she’d gotten, of Carmilla telling her to stay awake just for ten more minutes and how she couldn’t dream of sleeping without hearing Laura’s voice at least one more time. Laura pressed the record button and said, “Goodnight, Karnstein.”

 

**my cupcake (11:55pm):** how’s that??

**mistress of the snark (11:56pm):** i shall treasure it forever. goodnight, my fair maiden. until tomorrow.

 

\-----

 

Laura woke the next morning to an alarm set twenty minutes earlier than her usual time, so she would have enough time to get ready before Carmilla showed up. She washed her face and threw on her uniform before bounding down the stairs to see her father sipping from his mug in front of the morning news.

He looked up at Laura entering the living room and was about to say something when Laura’s phone buzzed.

“Carmilla’s driving me to school today. I’ll see you later.”

“Laura, we need to talk about last night.”

“We will, but later.”

Her father nodded. “I’ll hold you to it. Text me when you get to school.”

Laura nodded and attempted a smile at her father, but reached down for her shoes when the air felt to awkward to continue.

She walked out the front door and spotted Carmilla’s car in the same spot where she had dropped her off, only this time, she was wearing giant sunglasses and had a less than enthused expression on her face.

“G’morning,” Laura sighed, plopping down into the passenger seat.

“Mm,” Carmilla acknowledged distractedly.

Laura furrowed her eyebrows at Carmilla. “Did you not sleep well last night?”

“I’m like this every morning.” Carmilla took a sip of her coffee. “Give me another ten minutes and I’ll be normal chipper self for sure.”

Laura laughed and kissed her cheek. “My cute little zombie.”

Carmilla groaned and pointed at the cup sitting on Laura’s side of the console. “Your sugar with a side of coffee.”

“Not all of us take our coffee black and with a drizzle of angst, Holden Caulfield,” Laura said, earning the tiniest smile from Carmilla for the first time that morning.

\-----

When Laura and Carmilla approached the campus, Laura took out her phone and sent her father a very simple “I’m at school” text. She locked her phone and put it back in her pocket, not thinking much about whether he might respond.

She was still allowed to be angry, she figured.

“So the we use the inverse of sine, cosine and tangent when we want to find… an angle!”

The class yawned.

“And when we want to find—oh,” the classroom phone interrupted the teacher. She mumbled a few “okay”s and one or two “gotcha”s when she finally hung up the phone. “Laura Hollis, the office needs you.”

Laura nodded, and packed up her bag. She glanced over at Carmilla, who was a few seats behind Laura’s, who kept glancing between the teacher and Laura with squinted eyes and a furrowed brow.

Laura walked out of the classroom and down one flight of stairs to the office where the school’s receptionist sat.

“Hi,” Laura said to get her attention. “I was called down here? My name’s Laura Hollis.”

The receptionist looked up at the sound of Laura’s name. “Oh, yes. You can, uh, sit down right there.”

Laura obliged and watched the receptionist run down the hallway toward into the principal’s office.

Laura tried to listen in, but couldn’t pick up much due to the thick walls and already hushed voices.

Instead, she thought about what she was going to say to her father later. Laura knew she should apologize for the comment about her mother and for the whole forgetting to call thing, but she feared if she apologized for that it would mean she was taking back everything she had said. Bringing up her mother was just adding fuel to the fire, but Laura knew she was right in some regard.

Laura crossed her legs and played the cuticle of her thumb, playing out different scenarios of what she could say, none of them satiating her need for clarification.

“Ms. Hollis?” a voice interrupted her thoughts.

Laura nearly jumped out of her seat, where she’d been slouching.

“Hi, sorry, I didn’t mean to slouch, I was just—it was a long wait.”

Laura realized the interrupter of her thoughts had been the principal of the school. Laura had spoken to her a number of times, none bad, since Laura was an exemplary student and above average participant of the Janarius community. Still, Laura had only been called down the office a handful of times in her years at Janarius, and they rarely involved the ten minute wait that this one did.

“Is there a problem?” Was that too direct? Well, too late now.

The principal paused. “Ms. Hollis, I think you should come into my office.”

Oh no. She’d been found out. The club house, this had to be about the clubhouse. Laura pulled on the hem of her skirt as she sat in the chair across from the principal’s desk.

“Now, Laura, I don’t want you to panic,” the principal picked up a pen and flipped it between her fingers. Laura stared at her with wide, unblinking eyes. Panic? Panic over what? “But there’s been an accident involving your father.”

All at once, Laura’s mouth went dry and her chest felt hollow. She felt her heart beating in her throat.

“What?” was all that could come out.

“When he arrived at Silas High this morning and they think he spilt a chemical agent over himself. He’s in the emergency room right now, and we’ve called a cab for you to take you to the hospital.”  
“Is he okay?” Laura stuttered out. “I mean, what type of chemical agent? Like an acid burn?”

Laura remembered she hadn’t said I love you this morning.

“We’ve called you a cab,” she repeated, “it should be here in about ten minutes. Until then, take a few deep breaths and try to remain calm.”

Laura looked at her incredulously. “Excuse me, miss, but it’s really hard to remain calm when your father could be dying and you can’t do anything but wait for a cab,” Laura said through uneven breaths, her last bit of self-control dripping away.

The principal nodded but said nothing, only looking on Laura with as much pity an adult can have for a panicking child.

Laura took out her phone and stared at the Delivered under the message she had sent her father. Did she send that before or after it happened? Did he even see the message?

When Laura piled into the cab that actually came two minutes early, she gave the driver, a skinny Italian looking man who even went as far to wear the cabbie hat everyone associates with drivers but rarely sees, an abbreviated run down: her father was in the emergency room, and she needed to get to Silas General ASAP.

Laura paid the driver and did her best to stay composed as she pushed the door open to the sparsely filled emergency room waiting area.

“Hi, my father is here, his name is Richard Hollis. I’m his daughter, Laura. There was an accident, and they pulled me out of school, but I don’t know anything and I just really want to see my dad.”

“Hon’, slow down a bit,” the nurse behind the counter said. “Hollis, Richard, age 41, admitted at 8:30am. Stable.”

Laura started breathing again. “Where is he now.”

“I’m not sure, hon’. But I have a message here to take you straight to the doctor. He’ll be able to answer most of the questions.”

The nurse walked around the counter and led Laura through a corridor to a larger open room, split into stalls separated by curtains for patients. On one side, a mother was rubbing the back of a little girl holding gauze up to her bloody nose. A few stalls down, a gaunt elderly man was sleeping next to an oxygen tank.

Laura ran her eyes across the stall one more time, still unable to find the shape of someone who might be her father.

She turned her eyes back to what was in front of her and and saw a woman in a lab coat walking alongside a taller, broader man. approaching her

“You must be Laura Hollis. I’m Dr. Batista, your father’s doctor and this is Detective Fielding.”

“Where’s my dad?”

“He’s in surgery.”

“Surgery?”

“Skin grafting surgery. No need to worry, he’s very stable.” Laura took a deep breath again. “Why don’t you take a seat so I can explain what’s going to happen from here?”

Laura obliged, sitting in one of the plastic chair against the wall, Dr. Batista pulling another two chairs across from it for herself and the detective. Laura looked down at the uniform she was wearing and never felt more like a kid.

“So what happened? No one’s telling me anything.”

“Your father has a series of second degree burns on the right side of his body, stretching from his ear all the way down to his hip, most likely from a concentration of highly pure sulfuric acid. My best guess is that the incident happened at around 8:00 this morning.”

Laura glanced at the clipboard she was holding. “Why did it take two hours for anyone to contact me?”

“Truthfully, we wanted to get him into surgery before contacting any family. Chemical burns are dangerous and extremely painful, but rarely fatal.”

Laura nodded. She was frustrated, but she knew Dr. Batista was only doing her job.

Laura turned to the detective. “So how are you involved?”

The detective looked down at the floor. “We’re afraid that this incident is a bit more complicated than we suspected at first.”

“Before we took, your father into surgery, I examined him and took pictures of his burns. My colleagues and I noticed that the burns your father has are rather large and irregular pattern that deviates from what we typically see with acid burns. When people accidentally spill acid on themselves, the burns are usually only a few inches wide and aren’t as splotchy.”

Horrified, Laura realized. “So, you’re saying, my father—he didn’t—”

Detective Fielding continued. “This wasn’t a mistake. Someone attacked your father, and they wanted to hurt him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh no papa hollis :(  
> (GET IT?? BURNING FOR YOU??? like ACID BURNS???)
> 
> hope you liked it and tell me what you think in the comments!!
> 
> tumblr: hollsteinz.tumblr.com


	7. At Least We've Got Brownies?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla finds and comforts Laura. Lots of Hollstein fluff. Perry and Laf know something they shouldn't.

“So what’s gonna happen now?”

“Well,” the doctor took her glasses off, “if surgery goes as planned, we’re recommending three to five days in the hospital, just to ensure everything’s fine, and then Detective Fielding will take over.”

The detective nodded stoically. “Ms. Hollis, you are in good hands. We’re dealing with this matter very seriously. Acid attacks are no joke.”

Laura nodded. “When can I see him?”

“He’s gonna be in surgery for another few hours, but we’ve contacted your school, and they said it’s fine if you wish to wait here. One of the nurses can lead you to a waiting room.”

“Okay.”

Laura didn’t panic. She couldn’t. She had to be strong, she had to be on top of everything. If her dad could be in surgery right now, she could be strong. Yes, she could be strong. She pushed away the memories of picking her mom up from chemo. She pushed away the memory of her last time here.

So someone attacked her father. Someone who goes to Silas High. Someone who wanted to teach him a lesson, not kill him.

Laura tried to organize every thought and save it away for later, when she could write it down, but it was too much.  
She followed the nurse out of the nearly-empty emergency room and proceeded to an even emptier waiting room.

“I’ll come and get you when your father’s out of surgery. Should only be a little longer, sweetie.”

Laura fished her phone out. When was it 1pm all of a sudden?

Also, when had she put her cell phone on silent, because she certainly hadn’t heard the the notifications of seven text messages from Carmilla.

**mistress of the snark (10:41am):** look who finally decided to cut class ;)

**mistress of the snark (11:30am):** english was boring w/o you. where did you even go?

**mistress of the snark (11:35am):** i miss you.

**mistress of the snark (12:24pm):** the fucking admin won’t tell me what happened. they only said it was a “family emergency”????

**mistress of the snark (12:35pm):** is everything okay

**mistress of the snark (12:50pm):** laura please what happened are you okay

Laura scrambled her fingers across the keyboard and quickly typed her message. How do you even explain something like this over text?

**my cupcake (1:03pm):** i’m okay. everything’s okay my dad just had an accident.

A few seconds passed, and the incoming call screen lit up Laura’s cell phone. It was a picture Laura took of Carmilla when they were watching movies at Laura’s house a couple weeks ago. Carmilla’s sitting cross-legged on the couch and smiling knowingly at the camera. Laura’s favourite part of the picture, however, is that Carmilla was wearing her t-shirt in it. A few seconds after Laura took the picture, Carmilla pounced onto Laura, kissing and tickling her until she could barely breathe. For a second, the picture made Laura smile. She picked up.

“Carm, it’s the middle of the school day, you shouldn’t be on your phone.”

“Cupcake, I honestly couldn’t care less at this point. What happened? Are you okay? Where are you?”

“Yeah, I’m--” Laura’s voice cracked. “I’m fine I just--my dad, someone attacked him this morning and I just,” she choked back tears, stuttering with a dry throat and attempting to ignore every time her lip quivered. “They just left me in this waiting room until after he’s out of surgery and I--”

“Where are you right now?”

“The third floor of Silas General Hospital,” she swallowed another sob.

“I’m on my way.”

Carmilla hung up before Laura could protest.

\-----

After convincing the nurse at the front desk to let her through, Carmilla considered running up the stairs, but opted for the elevator instead. If she was going to be strong for Laura, she needed to be calm and not heaving from running up three stories of a building.

She walked out of the elevator and looked for the sign that would direct her to the waiting room. When she caught sight of the arrow, she took a final deep breath before walking off in that direction.

She pushed open the door and saw Laura sitting, reading one of the magazines that had been resting on the worn coffee table in the waiting room.

“Laura,” she said in a near whisper.

The blonde looked up, and for the first time that day, tears welled in her eyes.

“No, no, none of that,” Carmilla said, walking over and pulling her up out of her seat. “You’re okay, you’re okay. I’m here now. Don’t let go, I’ve got you, I’ve got you,” Carmilla cooed, pulling Laura’s body to hers.

“I love him so much,” Laura sobbed, her teardrops running down her cheeks and onto Carmilla’s neck.

“I know, cupcake, I know. And he’s gonna be okay, okay? If he’s anything like you, lord knows he’s not going down without a fight.”  
Laura let out a quiet chuckle and pulled back to look Carmilla in the eye. Carmilla cupped Laura’s cheeks and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You’re missing physics,” Laura realized Carmilla cut class for her.

Carmilla smiled. “So are you.”

“That’s different.”

“I’m sure it is,” Carmilla smiled. “But I can worry about that on Monday. I’d rather be with you right now. Now, when was the last time you ate something?”

“Uh, this morning?”

“I’ll be right back, there’s a vending machine right outside the door.” Carmilla kissed her on the cheek and motioned for her to sit back down. A minute later, she came back with two bags of cookies and pack of gummy candy.

“I wasn’t sure if you were feeling chocolatey-sweet or gummy-sweet, so I got you both.” Carmilla threw them down on the coffee table and sat down in the seat next to Laura.

Instead of reaching for the candy, Laura grabbed Carmilla’s hand and played with her fingers.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Carmilla asked in a soft voice.

Laura nodded and started from the beginning.

\-----

The girls waited another hour before they heard the news that Mr. Hollis was out of surgery, but not yet ready to be seen as the anesthesia hadn’t worn off yet. By then, the sun was disappearing and the hospital seemed to be getting emptier and emptier.

“Tired?” Carmilla asked, when Laura’s head fell on to her shoulder.

Laura nodded but only slightly. “It’s been a really long day. I just want to go home and fall asleep for a couple days.” Carmilla played with Laura’s hair as the girl began to nod off.

“Wait,” Laura sat up suddenly, “we were supposed to--I mean, I was supposed to come over and we were going to--” a blush made it’s way up Laura’s neck.

“So our plans got a little messed up. It’s not the end of the world.” Carmilla kissed Laura’s knuckles. “And the invitation is still open, y’know. We don’t have to do anything you don’t feel like doing.”

“I know it’s just…” Laura squeezed Carmilla’s hands. “I was kinda looking forward to our little romantic weekend. Netflix and stargazing and…”

“Champagne,” Carmilla filled in.

Laura slumped back into her chair. “And it feels like it’s all ruined now.”

Carmilla considered it and squeezed Laura’s hand. “It doesn’t have to be.”

“Ms. Hollis,” a nurse standing in the doorway of the waiting room, reading from a clipboard called out, “if you’re ready, I can take you to see your father.”

Laura nodded and rose to her feet, she turned back to Carmilla, who remained in her seat.

“I’ll be right here when you’re done, Cupcake. Give Papa Hollis my love,” she kissed her knuckle again before letting go of her hand.

\-----

Mr. Hollis had come out of the attack surprisingly well. Well, at least to Laura’s standards. She was to embarrassed to admit that, on hearing the news, her mind immediately went towhen her father had taken her to see the Dark Knight when she was kid. All she could picture was her father as Harvey Dent, half his face missing while the other half lay eerily unaffected. She knew it was ridiculous to think like that. Still, she couldn’t help it.

The acid had seeped into his ear canal and rendered his right ear 95% deaf. Newly wrinkled skin trailed all the way from his ear to the top of his hip, not that Laura could see it. Mr. Hollis was covered in gauze that served to protect the damaged skin. Laura tried not to stare.

By some stroke of luck, the nurse told her, Mr. Hollis had been wearing his reading glasses at the time of the attack, and none of the acid touched his eyes. Even better, Mr. Hollis’s jumpsuit took the worst of the acid and prevented about half of it from even touching his skin.

Even though Mr. Hollis was out of the woods, he still had a long way to go. His pain would be too high to release him from the hospital for at least another few days, and the newly grafted skin on his face was still too delicate to be left alone. He would require constant supervision from the nursing staff.

Laura didn’t stay long, as her father was still heavily delirious in his post-surgical state, so she sat in silence the nurse explained what medications they would be administering. She felt more useless the longer the nurse went on.

The dread returned when the nurse informed Laura that visiting hours were over. Quickly and a bit erratically, Laura collected herself, told her father goodnight, and left the room.

“How is he?” Carmilla rose from her seat as Laura reentered the waiting room.

“He’s okay.” Laura sat down in a huff. “He’s on a lot of painkillers right now so…” Laura’s voice quivered on the last word.

“Laura…” Carmilla reached out for her.

“No, I’m fine really. I don’t know, it’s just” Laura mumbled, picking at her fingers, “It didn’t look like him. He was covered in gauze and I could see some spots where his skin had been irritated and I just…”

Carmilla grabbed Laura’s hand. “Let’s go home.”

Laura nodded.

\-----

“Okay, I’m gonna give you an opportunity of a lifetime right now.”

“Oh?” Laura smiled, dropping her keys on the counter and closing the door behind her.

“For one night and this night only,” Carmilla paused, “we can watch whatever movie you want.”

Laura furrowed her eyebrows. “Anything?”

“Anything.”

Laura smoothed out her skirt as she walked to the other side of her kitchen’s counter. She put a hand on her hip.

“Well, we’re gonna have to start with the basics, then. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.”

Carmilla smiled and held out her hand, “Lead the way.”

Laura pulled her into the living room.

“You know what sucks?” Laura asked, walking backwards into the living room.

“What?”

Laura sat down on the couch but kept Carmilla standing in between her legs

“I’ve been with you all day and for some reason,” Laura grabbed on to Carmilla’s hips and looked up at her lips, “I haven’t kissed you. Not even  _once_.”

“Well, that definitely sounds like a dilemma.”

“It is.” Laura ran her fingers up Carmilla’s arms, pulling her closer and closer

“I wonder how we could fix it.”

Laura pulled Carmilla closer until she felt her nose lightly touch Carmilla’s. Carmilla let out a breathy laugh at the sensation. She closed her eyes and lifted her head to brush her lips against Carmilla’s. Quickly, Laura tangled her hand in Carmilla’s hair, urging her onto her lap. Carmilla wrapped her arms around Laura’s neck as she settled into her.

Laura pulled back and wrapped her arms around Carmilla’s middle. She placed a delicate kiss on her neck and nuzzled into her

“Thank you,” Laura said.

“For what?”

“What you did today.”

Carmilla sighed in understanding.

“Are you afraid of dying?” Laura interrupted Carmilla’s thoughts.

Carmilla pulled herself back. “You’re dad isn’t going to die.”

“I know,” Laura played with a strand of Carmilla’s hair. “Just curious.”

Carmilla considered it.

“Yeah,” she finally answered. “I am.”

Laura looked up and held her gaze.

“You expecting company?”

“Hmm?” Laura hummed, lost in her thoughts and Carmilla.

“The doorbell just rang.”

Laura pulled herself out of her head. “What? Who could possibly be here this late?”

Carmilla fell onto the couch so Laura could get up.

The doorbell sounded a second time.

“Coming!”

A third time.

“I’m coming, just hold on!”

Laura opened the door and was confused to see Lola Perry and Lafontaine standing on her porch.

“Perry, Laf, what are you--”

“Laura, can we come in?” Perry interrupted.

“We promise we’ll explain but we have to talk to you. Like, right now.” Lafontaine said from behind Perry’s shoulder.

“Sure, come in, come in.”

“Cupcake, who’s there?” Carmilla shouted from the den.

“Laf and Perry.”

“From Silas High?” Carmilla shouted back, confused.

“Yeah, I don’t know what they--”

“How is your dad?” Perry interrupted again

Laura turned back to Perry. “He’s fine, he’s at Silas General right now, but he--”

“How long is he gonna be there?” Lafontaine interrupted.

“I don’t know, the doctor said--” Laura began again, speaking faster and her face getting hotter.

“How are his eyes?” Perry said.

“Ginger twins! Cool it!” Carmilla shouted from behind Laura. “Get inside, close the door, and neither of you speak until we’re in the dining room.”

Perry and Lafontaine nodded anxiously as they made their way in.

“How did they know where you live?” Carmilla asked, intertwining her fingers with Laura’s.

“ _I don’t know._ ”

Carmilla furrowed her eyebrows. “What?”

“ _I don’t know_ ,” Laura repeated.

“I brought brownies,” Perry said, earning scowl from Carmilla. “Sorry,” she mouthed.

The four head to the dining room and sat down. They looked at each other in silence until Lafontaine took the initiative to start.

“How is your dad, Laura?”

“He’s okay, he got out of surgery this afternoon and he’s gonna be in recovery for a couple days. He’s damaged his hearing, but his vision is fine and his face is mostly okay.” Laura did her best to answer the assault of questions for earlier. “But something tells me you guys didn’t come here just to offer condolences.”

Perry and Lafontaine looked at each other and blanked.

“Whatever it is, just say it, we’ve both had a long day.”

“We’re both happy that you’re dad is okay,” Lafontaine awkwardly spat out, “but we came here because I might have, uh, overheard something that probably wasn’t intended for our ears.”

“About my dad?”

“Kinda. So when I don’t have class, I work in the office of Silas High. A lot of the time I’m just making copies, confirming attendance lists, signing people in and out, but I’m also right next to the principal’s office and I came across something that, well, maybe you should read it for yourself--”

Lafontaine took out a piece of paper from their pocket and handed it to Laura

“It’s from the desk of the principal,” Laura said, glancing at the letterhead. She read out:

“‘ _To whom it may concern,_

_My informants have squashed any possibility of an official report or complaint to the school district. Updates will be sent as information develops._

_Yours,_

_Dean of Silas High School, Lilita Morgan_ ’”

Laura paused and stared at the paper.

“The last edit on the document was made an hour after your dad was attacked.”

Laura put the paper down. “Lafontaine, where did you get this?” she asked in a deep, grave voice.

“They dug into something that wasn’t their business!” Perry said.

“I did what I needed to do, Per. I had to.”

Laura threw her head back and rubbed her eyes. “I swear to God, I can’t even think right now!” she shouted at the ceiling. When she brought her head back, Carmilla was staring at the paper, frowning.

“So, now it’s a conspiracy,” Laura sat back. “The dean of your high school attacked my father because he knew something he wasn’t supposed to.” 

“I can’t believe this,” Carmilla said under her breath. “I can’t believe she did it again.”

Carmilla was shaking, and her fists were balled up so tight that the veins in her arm were popping out.

“Carm? Are you okay?” Laura reached out for Carmilla’s hand, but instead Carmilla stood up and started pacing.

“She promised me she would never do this again. I guess I’m the fool for trusting her.”

“Carm, woah slow down, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me--”

“I fucked up. I really fucked up.”

“Carm, come here,” Laura stood up and stopped her in her pacing. “Whatever it is you can tell us. You can tell me.”

“She promised me no one would get hurt this time. I trusted her and it’s my fault.”

“Carm, who?”

“My mother!” she pointed at the paper. “My mother is the dean of Silas High!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked it!! i'm finishing up most of my college apps soon so i'm hoping i'll be able to post updates more often.
> 
> my tumblr is hollsteinz.tumblr.com


	8. Important Lessons from French Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla tells Laura the truth about her and her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnd four months later, I finally update this fic. Don't worry though, I definitely did my best to make it worth the wait.
> 
> In other news: happy season 3 guys!!!

“Well, this just escalated from terrible to fucked up.”

“LaFontaine, hush.”

“Just calling it like it is.”

Carmilla sat down and put her face in her hands. She looked up at Laura. “I…she promised me she wouldn’t do this again.”

Laura looked back at Carmilla in silence.  Carmilla stood up. 

“I swear I didn’t know she would do this. I didn’t know she would go this far.”

“Your mom did this to my dad?” 

Carmilla’s eyes began to water. “I swear,” a sob hidden beneath her voice, “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Laura rushed to Carmilla’s side and cupped her hands to Carmilla’s face. “Shh, shh, I know, I know.”

Carmilla furrowed her eyebrows. “You don’t hate me?”

“What?” Laura laughed. “Why would I hate you?”

“My mom, she—”

“You sat with me for hours in the hospital waiting room. If your mom did this, you’re not responsible. There’s no way.” Laura wiped away one of Carmilla’s tears with her thumb. “Carm, look at me.” Carm looked up. “We’re gonna be okay. You just need to tell us your side of the story, okay?” Laura placed a delicate kiss on Carmilla’s cheeks. 

Carmilla nodded and sat down at the dining room table. Laura took the seat next to her. Carmilla opened her mouth, but words failed to come out. She used her left hand to grab her right shoulder and rubbed it. She looked up at Laura with scared eyes.

“I’ve lied about a lot of things.”

Laura nodded. “I understand.”

Carmilla half laughed. “You really don’t.”

Laura studied her. “Why don’t we start at the beginning?” she suggested.

Carmilla nodded and took a big breath. No brushing around the subject anymore, she thought.

“I was born Mircalla, daughter of the Count Karnstein in Styria, Austria.” Carmilla briefly paused to gauge their reactions. “My family owned one of the most powerful companies in Austria, politically, economically, everything. We were highly disliked, but such worries meant little to a wealthy girl. When I was 14, my mother was caught embezzling money out of one of the private schools she owned. I don’t know exactly what happened, but one day she came home and told us to pack quickly and lightly. We boarded a flight to America, moved around a lot, until we ended up in New York. She got my brother and I new passports, new names, it was an entire ordeal. She became principal of an elite private school and before you knew it, Mircalla and Wilhelm were know Carmilla and William enrolled at one of the best private schools in the nation.

“About halfway through my sophomore year, my mother approached me and asked me to make friends with the popular girls of my class. So, for better or worse, I pretended to enjoy their company. Invited them to sleepovers at my mother’s penthouse, gave them free gifts, free alcohol. All provided via my mother, of course. And that’s how I met Ell.” Carmilla smiled at this, but dared not look at Laura.

“Only this time nothing was a lie. It started off the same. Concerts, parties, alcohol. We became  _ fast _ friends.” She scoffed at the word “fast.” “There was never a moment we were apart. I mean, it wasn’t that hard considering that my mother put me in every one of her classes.”   
Carmilla paused and inhaled again. “Ell’s father was a trustee of the school. I had no idea, but Mother did, and I guess that’s all that mattered in the end.

“We’d been together for a couple weeks when Ell told me her father was going out of town. We had never gotten a moment alone, so we planned a weekend. I told my mother we were planning sleepover, which I guess wasn’t a complete lie.” Carmilla chuckled.

“Right before I was to leave for the ‘sleepover’ my mother handed me a combination. She told me when everyone at the sleepover was asleep to sneak to the study of Ell’s father and put the combination in the safe. I was to retrieve to account numbers and their PINs.”

“Did you do it?” Laura asked after a few seconds of silence.

Carmilla finally looked up at her and nodded. “After Ell and I... when she was asleep, I did it. I didn’t know any better; I was 15, I didn’t even know what a bank statement was.”

Carmilla grabbed onto her shoulder again. “A week later, my mother came home from work early and caught us in my room. She didn’t even get mad, she...she  _ laughed _ . She got mad later.  _ Really  _ mad.” Carmilla rubbed her shoulder; Laura noticed.

“Ell was too embarrassed to talk to me after that, and by the next week, the movers came and we moved here. And now she’s doing the same exact thing.” Carmilla looked up at Laura. “Only this time she’s not afraid to hurt someone.”

“But where does my dad fall into this? He’s a janitor, not a trustee. Not even a person with a lot of money.”

Carmilla inhaled and rubbed her shoulder again. “Probably just got caught in the crosshairs.”

“But why?” 

“Maybe he knew something he wasn’t supposed to.”

“What could he have known?”

“I don’t know, Laura!” Carmilla suddenly shouted, followed by a pounding silence. “I told my mom I wasn’t going to play her game anymore, so she sent me to Janarius. After everything with Ell, it didn’t take much convincing to have her send me to a Catholic school.”

Laura studied Carmilla, but turned to Laf and Perry. “Is that everything you guys need for right now?”

“Uh, I guess…” Laf stuttered, taken aback by Laura’s question. “To be honest, I don’t really know what we should do with this information.”

“Well, we obviously aren’t going to figure it out at 11pm on a Friday night, so maybe you guys should leave.” Carmilla said, fists clenched, staring at the ground.

“That’s sounds like a great idea,” Perry said, walking towards the door. “Lafontaine!”

Laf looked at Laura with a frown. Laura nodded, as if to say “I got this.”

Laf looked at Perry, and together, the two made their way out of the house. After Laura locked the door, she made her way back to Carmilla who hadn’t moved.

Laura crouched down and looked up at Carmilla.

“Hey,” she took Carmilla’s hand in hers.

“Hey.”

“We’re gonna get through this.” Carmilla nodded. “I’m serious. We’ll figure something out. I know what you’re thinking, and they’re gonna have to get through me if they plan on taking you anywhere.”

Carmilla looked up at this. 

Those three unsaid words weighed heavy on Laura’s lips. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, Carm.”

Carmilla reached out to cup Laura’s cheek. Slowly, she met her girlfriend’s lips in a light kiss. Her eyes still closed, Laura rested her forehead against Carmilla’s.

“I really hope this doesn’t mean I have start calling you Mircalla.”

Carmilla chuckled. “Any name, so long as it comes from your lips, will be good enough.”

Laura quirked up her lip. “How ‘bout Cupcake, then?” she teased.

“ _ Mais ç'est toi, mon amour, _ ” Carmilla said in an all-too extravagant voice.

Laura suddenly blushed and pulled back. “You speak French?”

“Last time I checked, you do too, Cupcake.”

“I’m in French  _ class _ , but I don’t speak it like  _ that _ .”

Carmilla smirked. “Like what?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Enlighten me .” Carmilla walked her fingers up Laura’s arm.

Laura slowly moved her lips first to Carmilla’s neck, leaving a wet kiss on her pulse point. She moved up to her ear and bit down. Carmilla shivered.

“Maybe if we actually start the movie, you’ll find out.”

And with that, Laura was off. She ran into the living room and plopped down on the couch. She propped herself up on her elbows.

“ _ Laura _ ,” Carmilla drawled out and she walked in. Laura shuddered at the sound of her own name. “It’s not very nice to leave a girl high and dry like that.”

Laura bit her lip. “Maybe you should teach me a lesson.”

Carmilla’s eyes shot down her girlfriend’s figure. Slowly, Carmilla crept onto the couch and crawled up Laura’s body.

“You know what I  _ really _ want to do right now?” Carmilla whispered, stealing a glance of Laura’s lips.

Laura wrapped her legs around Carmilla’s waist. “Tell me.”

Carmilla brought the hand that was resting on Laura’s hip up her body. Laura lightly gasped as it brushed along the small patch of skin left uncovered by the hem of her tanktop. Carmilla’s hand paused on Laura’s shoulder.

Just as Laura was about to lean in and steal the kiss she was so craving, Carmilla’s hand reached out past Laura and onto the table where the television remote sat.

“I’m just so excited for this movie, Cupcake,” Carmilla said with a sarcastic excitement. “We have to start it right now.” 

Laura whined.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Carmilla asked, all too innocently. Carmilla moved to climb off Laura, but the smaller girl’s legs kept her in place.

“If you think you’re going anywhere but my lips, you clearly don’t know me very well.”

Laura balled Carmilla’s shirt in her fist and pulled her into a rough kiss. Laura brought her other hand up to the back of Carmilla’s hair and lightly tugged at the roots. Carmilla whined and set the remote down somewhere on the floor.

“You like that, baby?”

Carmilla nodded before rushing to reconnect her lips with Laura’s. 

Laura sat up and held Carmilla by the hips, encouraging Carmilla to grind down on her lap. Carmilla began to rub herself up and down Laura’s thigh, seeking some type of friction. Laura smirked against Carmilla’s lips grabbed Carmilla’s ass, urging her to repeat the motion.

“Upstairs?” Laura whispered against Carmilla’s lips.

“Mmm,” Carmilla affirmed before flipping them and picking Laura up.

Laura’s feet dropped from around Carmilla’s waist, her shirt rising up just enough for Carmilla to rub Laura’s hipbone with her thumb.

“Come on, Carm” Laura chuckled, but Carmilla’s lips wouldn’t budge from the spot on Laura’s pulse point. Carmilla smiled against the skin there. Carmilla bit her pulse point, eliciting a gasp from Laura.

After a frenzy of kisses in an attempt to make it up the stairs, Carmilla picked Laura up and pushed her through the bedroom door. She dropped her on her bed and crawled on top of her.

Laura’s hands reached out to the bottom of Carmilla’s shirt and pulled it off. She grabbed onto Carmilla’s ass and flipped them over, so she could be in control. She hovered over Carmilla for a few seconds, taking in the view of a flushed Carmilla panting on her bed. She bit her lip in a smirk, and trailed kisses across Carmilla’s jaw and down her neck. She reached around to the small of Carmilla's back and encouraged her to sit up. When she did, Laura reached behind Carmilla’s back and undid the clasp on her bra.

Carmilla leaned on the back of her hands as she took the straps off her shoulders. Laura sat back and stared at her girlfriend’s body.

“Earth to Laura?” Carmilla teased.

Laura smiled and placed a gentle kiss on Carmilla’s shoulder, and then her chest.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” Laura said under her breath, cupping Carmilla’s breast.

“So are you.” Laura pushed Carmilla down so she was lying on her back. “You sure you want to do this tonight, Laura?”

“Definitely.” Laura kissed the space between Carmilla’s breasts. “Are you sure?”

“Hell yes,” Carmilla said with almost comic enthusiasm.

Laura returned to Carmilla’s eyes. “Stop...” Laura whined while shamelessly staring at Carmilla’s lips.

Carmilla grinned and arched her neck to get closer to Laura’s lips. Their lips met again, and Carmilla felt a hand trail down her stomach where the button of her pants were. Quickly, the button was undone, the pants were on the floor, and Laura was ghosting her fingertips along Carmilla’s underwear.

“Laura, I need you,” Carmilla moans.

“Where do you need me?”

“I—I need you to touch me.”

Laura kissed between Carmilla breasts, leaving open mouth kisses. She swirled her tongue around Carmilla’s nipple, while her fingers inched down lower and lower. Finally, Laura cupped Carmilla's sex through her underwear, releasing the dirtiest of moans Laura had ever heard the girl make.  Deciding she loved the sound of it way too much for it to stop, Laura released Carmilla’s nipple with a pop and began to kiss down her stomach.

Slowly, Laura grasped onto the sides of Carmilla’s underwear and dragged it down her legs. Laura kneeled between Carmilla’s legs and threw the offending garment somewhere behind her. She leaned back down to Carmilla’s face.

“Where do you want me baby?” Laura whispered, walking her fingertips too close to where Carmilla needed her.

“Inside,” she gasped, too nervous to push Laura’s hand where she wanted it. 

Laura smiled and finally ran her fingers through Carmilla’s heat. She felt the wetness gather at her fingertips and turned back to catch another strangled moan leaving Carmilla. 

“Is this all for me?” Laura pressed her fingers against Carmilla.

Carmilla bit her lip. “Y-yes. All yours— _fuck_...”

Laura began to rub circles Carmilla’s clit, paying careful attention to Carmilla’s reaction. She was slowly working herself up, when Laura’s movements suddenly stopped.

“Wha…” Carmilla panted out, but quickly shut up when she realized her girlfriend was climbing on top of her and reaching for her own t-shirt.

Laura crossed her arms and tore her shirt off, revealing that she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath it.

Carmilla sat up and grabbed onto her girlfriend, flipping them over so she was on top.

“Hey, I wasn’t done…” Laura giggled.

“We have plenty of time, Cupcake…” Carmilla’s lips met with her collarbone as her hand trailed to cup Laura’s breast. “And,” Carmilla said, her breath tickling Laura, “I don’t think I ever told you to stop.”   
Laura’s eyes glossed over and she slowly reached down between their bodies to cup Carmilla’s sex again.

“Fuck…” Carmilla shuddered again, as her body began to rub against Laura’s hand. “Don’t stop, baby, fu-uck…”

Laura connected her lips to Carmilla’s neck again, flicking harder and harder against Carmilla’s clit.

Laura took two fingers and plunged into Carmilla’s heat, eliciting the loudest moan yet. Her thumb continued to rub Carmilla’s clit, and with each swipe, Carmilla felt the white heat in her belly spread.

Carmilla shuddered again and tensed up as her orgasm washed over her. She shivered as Laura’s fingers helped maintain the high before she relaxed into the arms of her girlfriend.

“Mmm,” Carmilla hummed contentedly when Laura’s arms wrapped around her middle, flipping them slightly so they were both on their sides.

“Come here,” Carmilla whispered, blissed-out and still catching her breath, as she cupped Laura’s face and met her lips in a kiss. She felt Laura chuckle when Carmilla took Laura’s lower lip between her teeth.

“I'm pretty good, huh?” Laura teased, when she noticed Carmilla getting worked up again.

“Mmm,” Carmilla hummed, trailing her fingers down Laura’s spine, peppering kisses down her neck. “You’re very talented.”

“Stop!” Laura laughed, squirming at the ticklish kisses. “Carm, that tickles!”

“Hmm,” Carmilla leaned up and hovered above Laura. Laura blushed. Carmilla noticed, and connected her lips to Laura’s again. “You know, I’d love to return the favor…”

Carmilla’s hands reached down to the waist of Laura’s shorts and pulled them off her legs.

Laura sat up on her elbows and watched Carmilla kiss down her chest and stomach. Laura tangled her hands in Carmilla’s hair when she left a kiss on the top of her thigh.

Carmilla hooked Laura’s legs over her shoulder and started kissing the skin on the inside of her thighs.

“Carm…” Laura whined, when the teasing became too much for her.

“Yes, Cupcake?” she asked, leaving another kiss.

“Ugh…” Laura groaned, too embarrassed to ask her for what she wanted.

Carmilla chuckled. She left a final kiss on the inside of her thigh before leaving a light kiss on center.

“Shit…”

Carmilla smirked and spread Laura open with her fingers. She licked up her center and began to massage her clit with her tongue.

“Fu-uck,” Laura stuttered.

“I love it when you curse.”

“Shut up and keep doing whatever you’re doing.”

Carmilla obeyed and continued to move her tongue up and down and swirled it around Laura’s clit. Carmilla took the nub between her lips and sucked, when Laura arched her back of the bed.

“I’m gonna....I’m gonna—fuck…” Laura panted, holding Carmilla’s face close to her sex. 

With another flick, Carmilla sent Laura’s body spiraling into oblivion, tensing and twitching as Carmilla’s tongue eased Laura out of her high. Laura shivered.

Carmilla threw Laura’s legs over and began to crawl up Laura’s body again. “You taste  _ so _ good.” Carmilla met Laura again in a gentle kiss. Laura tangled her fingers in Carmilla’s hair again. Carmilla was the one to pull back.

“Are you okay?” Carmilla asked, relaxing on top of her girlfriend.

“I’m—” Laura couldn’t help but smile, “I’m great. Are you okay?”

Carmilla answered her with a kiss.

Laura started giggling against Carmilla’s lips.

“What is it?” Carmilla asked when Laura started laughing harder. “You’re laughing at me! I cannot believe—”

“Shh,” Laura tried to wave off her laughter. “Just kiss me.” Laura tried to reconnect their lips, but Carmilla dodged it.

“Nuh-uh. You were laughing at me.”

Laura laughed again. “Because I’m happy!” Laura poked her side. “Because I’m  _ really _ happy. Don’t you laugh when you’re happy?”

“I smile.”

“No, you smirk.”

Carmilla considered it, and snuggled back into Laura’s side. “Potato, potahto,” Carmilla mumbled.

Laura sighed and relaxed into Carmilla’s embrace. She turned on her side so her back was flush against Carmilla’s front.

“Are you tired?” Carmilla asked, rubbing circles on Laura’s hip with her thumb.

“A lil,” Laura let out in a big yawn.

“Mm, I am too” Carmilla kissed the back of Laura’s hair and pulled Laura’s body closer to her, wrapping her arms around Laura's middle. “Close your eyes, cupcake.”

“Mm. Carm?” she asked, right before she was about to close her eyes.

“Mm?”

“Tomorrow morning, can we go see my dad?”

“Whatever you need,” Carmilla kissed the top of Laura’s hair, “Get some sleep.”

Laura did as she was told. Carmilla pulled Laura tighter and the two fell asleep, holding on to each other like no one else existed.

\-----

“Carm…” Laura nudged the girl sleeping on top of her. At some point of the night, an unconscious Carmilla decided it was much more comfortable to sleep completely on top of Laura rather than spooning her.

“Carm!” Laura whispered again. Carmilla scrunched her nose and grunted before fluttering her eyes open.

“Laura, I swear to God…” Carmilla turned her head to face the other side. She closed her eyes before she could finish her sentence.

“Carm, we need to get up, it’s almost 10 and I can’t feel my arm.”

“Just five more minutes…” Carmilla pouted, wrapping her arms around Laura’s torso. Laura was able to free her arm and, instead of fighting back, rubbed up and down Carmilla’s bare back.

She noticed a scar on her shoulder blade, and delicately ran a finger along it. Carmilla shivered at the sensation.

Carmilla adjusted herself again, this time lifting her head and hovering over Laura’s face.

“Good morning,” Carmilla said with a goofy grin.

“Good morning,” Laura adjusted herself. “Did you sleep well?”

“I slept  _ great _ , because someone really tired me out last night.”

“Oh, who could that be?”

Carmilla grinned. “No idea,” Carmilla met Laura’s lips in a soft kiss. 

Carmilla pulled back and sat up to stretch out her arms. Laura walked over to her dresser.

“So I was thinking we get dressed, go to the hospital, check up on my dad, and then the rest of the day is ours.”

“Okay,” Carmilla pulled on her discarded shirt from yesterday.

Laura scrunched her eyebrows. “What are you doing?”

“Uh, putting my clothes on?”

“Oh.” Laura nodded. “Okay.”

Carmilla laughed. “I can’t exactly go outside without clothing on, Cupcake.”

“No, I know.” Laura opened a drawer and took out a towel. “I just—I was gonna take a shower and I thought you’d like to join me?”

Carmilla smiled and took Laura in her arms.

“I’d love to.”

\-----

About an hour later, still delirious from their shower, Carmilla was kissing Laura’s neck from behind as the smaller girl made a cup of coffee. Suddenly, Laura’s phone went off.

“It’s Perry,” Laura said, checking the caller ID.

“You know, for a weekend where I’m supposed to have you all to myself, there’s been a lot of sharing going on.” Carmilla left one more kiss before taking her hands off Laura’s hips and grabbing the cup of coffee in front of her.

“Hello? Woah, Perr, you’re gonna need to slow down.” Carmilla cocked an eyebrow at Laura. “Maybe they’re parents confiscated their phone. I know, Perr. I know. Give it time, they might just not be able to get to the phone right now. Okay? I’ll talk to you later. ‘Kay, bye.” Laura hung the phone up.

“What happened to Betty Crocker?”

“Laf isn’t picking up the phone. Ever since last night, there’s been radio silence.” Laura leaned on the balls of her hand. “I’m sure it’s nothing.” Even Laura didn’t sound convinced.

Carmilla reached out for Laura’s hand.

“Let’s worry about one thing at a time. We should focus on getting to the hospital to see your dad.”

Laura nodded absent-mindedly. “Yeah, yeah, we should be heading out. It’s almost noon.” Carmilla gave her a funny look. “I’m okay, I swear.”

Carmilla took a couple more sips of coffee before placing the mug in the sink and leading Laura out the front door.

\-----

“I  _ hate _ waiting rooms,” Laura said, tapping her foot and sighing at the ceiling.

“I know,” Carmilla squeezed Laura’s hand. “Just a couple more minutes.”

Laura sighed and sat back, so she was facing Carmilla. “Thank you.” Laura paused. “For staying with me.”   
Carmilla sighed and wrapped her arm around Laura. 

“Anything you need,” Carmilla mumbled against her hair, leaving a kiss.

Laura relaxed into her but felt Carmilla shuffle. She looked and saw that she was rubbing her shoulder. Again. For like the third time in the past hour.

“What’s wrong with your shoulder?”

Carmilla’s forehead scrunched. “Huh?”

“Your shoulder, you keep rubbing your shoulder. Did something happen to it?”

Carmilla smirked. “Maybe someone was a bit too rough last night.”

Laura smiled. “Nice try, but you were rubbing it before then.”

Carmilla’s smirk faltered and she sank lower into her seat. “I don’t know, it’s just sore, I guess.”

Laura’s turned in her seat to face Laura. “Uh oh.”

“What?”

“You’re being evasive.”

“I am not.”

“Carm.”

Carmilla sighed and reached her shoulder again. “Whenever I get stressed out, I have this weird pain that shoots down my shoulder.”

“Just your shoulder?”

Carmilla nodded. “My mother shoved me against a wall once.”

Laura’s face shifted from concerned to angry. “When?”

“Cool your jets, it was a couple weeks ago. It’s not a big deal.”

“Carm, I--” Laura sputtered, but stopped when she heard the door to the waiting room open.

“Laura Hollis? You’re father’s ready to see you.”

Makes sense the one moment she doesn’t want to leave, she has to.

“Uh, okay.” She turned to Carmilla and squeezed her hand. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be here,” Carmilla smiled, as if all was normal.

Laura looked back at Carmilla as she followed the nurse out the room.  _ My dad _ , she reminded herself,  _ worry about my dad now, worry about Carmilla after _ .

“Your father has been improving,” the nurse’s voice pulled Laura from her thoughts. “Physical therapy went very well. Granted, he still has a bit to go, but he should be out of the hospital within a few days.”

Laura nodded. “Thank you.” Is it normal to thank nurses?

“No problem,” the nurse drew out. Apparently it is. 

The nurse opened the door for Laura to step in.

“Mr. Hollis,” the nurse said, walking in front of Laura “Your daughter is here to see you,” she said fiddling with one of his IVs.

His bandages were removed a few hours after he’d waken from surgery. Mr. Hollis had asked his nurses to keep the shades in his room open, so the light flooded the small hospital quarter, almost overwhelmingly so.

“Laura?” he called out, his voice slightly sore. A picked-at, hospital version of steak and potatoes sat open to the side of him.

“Hi dad,” Laura sat in the chair to the side of his bed, “how are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better,” he laughed, sitting up straight. 

“How’s your ear?”

“Pretty crappy, actually.”

“How ‘bout your eyes? And you’re joints? How’s the pain when you move.”

“Laura, I get enough of these questions from the doctors. I’m fine. Really. How have you been holding up? Are you okay at home by yourself?”

Laura’s eyes widened.  _ By yourself. _

“It’s fine,” Laura squeeked out. 

Laura’s father smiled. “And how’s Carmilla?”

“Good. She’s good. She’s in the waiting room.”

“Mmm. Well, I don’t want to keep you both. Nothing interesting happening here. Go do whatever you kids do these days.”

“Dad, we came because I wanted to see you--”

“I know, and we can spend time together when I’m out of this place. Laura, please. Go. Have a good time with Carmilla.”

Laura paused and nodded. “Okay, okay. I just have one question.”

“Shoot.”

“Do you remember what happened? Or anything about it?”

“Laura, please don’t.”

“What?”

“You know what. You’re not a private investigator.”

"I know, I’m just curious, is all.”

Laura’s father considered it. “All I remember is I was unlocking the door to my office, I dropped my keys, turned around, and then I woke up in the ambulance.”

Laura frowned. “That’s it?”

“Yup,” Laura’s father watched her eyebrows furrow again. “Please don’t worry about it, kid. The cops know what they’re doing.”

“I know, I know.” Laura gave her father a kiss on the cheek. “I’m gonna go find Carm. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Laura left the room and made her way back to waiting room.

“How is he?” Carmilla, asked, standing up.

“He’s okay. Told us we should go out and enjoy the day while we can.”

Carmilla nodded and held her arms out to Laura. Laura fell into her embrace.

“He’s not wrong,” Carmilla said as the girl nuzzled into her neck. “What do you want to do today? We can go to the movies or...a bookstore...or the mall...or…”

Laura pulled back and felt her heart beat a little faster. She was listing all of that for her. She was waiting at the hospital for her. Everything she had done for the past two days were for her.

“Why are you doing all of this for me?”

Carmilla blushed, but hesitated. “Because I love you.”

Laura’s eyes widened at first.  _ Love _ , she thought,  _ is this what it feels like? _ Carmilla’s heart started racing, but relaxed when she saw Laura’s lips turn into a dopey smile. “I love you, too, Carm.”

Laura cupped the back of Laura’s neck and gave her a gentle kiss.

“As much as I love this, Cupcake, something tells me we shouldn’t be making out in a hospital waiting room.”

Laura giggled. “Probably,” Laura mumbled against her lips, kissing her again.

\------

“Why can’t we just get takeout?” Carmilla whined, falling dramatically against the shopping cart, as Laura sorted through produce. “I’m soooo tired…”

“I’m sure you are,” Laura scoffed, mostly ignoring Carmilla. “Zucchini or squash?”

Carmilla squinted. “Chinese food.”

“Carm…” Laura huffed, but was interrupted by a cell phone ring. Her cell phone ring, to be more specific. She put the two vegetables done and tapped accept call.

“Hey, have you heard any news?” 

Carmilla walked over, to where Laura was standing and began to look at the produce herself. Suddenly, a hand gripped her shoulder and squeezed.

“Are you sure?” Laura said into the phone, her brow furrowed. “Crap, okay, we’ll be there in ten.” Laura clicked her phone off. 

“What’s wrong?” Carmilla’s mind immediately went to Laura’s dad, but she couldn’t say it.

“It’s Laf,” Laura said, abandoning their shopping cart and dragging Carmilla out the door, “they’re missing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Leave a comment and tell me what you think!
> 
> Carmilla Tumblr: [hollsteinz](http://hollsteinz.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Personal Tumblr: [somenoblewarriorgoddess](http://somenoblewarriorgoddess.tumblr.com//)

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: hollsteinz.tumblr.com  
> 


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